


Camp Llwynywermod

by bleedingballroomfloor



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Beach Sex, Blow Jobs, Casual Sex, Denial of Feelings, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, First Time, Forced Bonding, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Outdoor Sex, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Rivals to Lovers, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Stargazing, Summer Romance, alex is a bisexual disaster, but henry is a big gay mess so its fine, henry deserves to be happy so goddammit i'm going to make him happy, himbo alex supremecy, yes i am making that into a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 56,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27641189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleedingballroomfloor/pseuds/bleedingballroomfloor
Summary: The first night of camp with Henry is always weird. Weird in the sense that they haven’t seen each other in nearly eleven months, but Alex knows that Henry has been thinking about him in the months leading up to camp. Alex is guilty of it too; often the first thing he thinks of after applying to be a counselor is seeing Henry, Henry and his stupid blond hair and stupid English accent and stupidly gorgeous face, and thinking about just how he could outdo him in pranks this year.Alternatively, the camp counselor AU that nobody asked for.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 298
Kudos: 356





	1. Tradition Gone Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot. It has now turned into a 50k+ word long fic. I don't know how this happened.
> 
> A little later than promised, but after four months, this fic is finally ready! As it says in the summary, I'll be updating every Wednesday and Saturday. It's pretty short, only eight chapters in length, and I want to keep this baby alive as long as possible. Also, I haven't been to a summer camp since middle school so bear with me. But this idea just fell in my head and it's so perfect that I had to write something!
> 
> I LOVE hearing your thoughts and reactions, so don't hesitate to leave a comment!! Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

The camp is already filling up with people by the time Alex finishes setting up his cabin. He goes out to help the incoming campers with their luggage, saying hello to their parents and reassuring them that they will have a good time at camp while Liam stays inside their cabin and gets the campers assigned to a bed. They have a good system — Alex stays outside and charms the parents, Liam stays inside and makes the campers feel welcome. It’s a system that’s worked for the past four years, and they’re not thinking of switching it up anytime soon.

Hours later, after tearful goodbyes from parents and reunions of kids who haven’t seen each other since the summer before and one misplaced suitcase, Alex manages to group all his campers inside their cabin. He and Liam count them — thirteen middle schoolers, a mix of anxious-looking eleven year olds and the familiar faces of thirteen year olds that Alex has had in previous years. He claps his hands together, grinning brightly. Some of the younger campers jump at the noise.

“Okay!” he says. “Let’s get in a circle, we’re going to play a fun introduction game to get to know all of you better, then we’ll do a short tour of the campground before lunch.”

They all sit down, a few somewhat apprehensively. Alex finds himself sitting next to an energetic-looking eleven year old. Liam sits on his other side, tossing a plastic beach ball in his hands.

“So here’s how the game works,” Liam explains. “This beach ball has questions written on it, just your basic icebergs. Once you catch it, answer the question that your finger is closest to. So I’ll go first…” He throws the beach ball into the air and catches it. “My name is Liam, I am one of your counselors and this is my eleventh year at camp, fourth year being a counselor. And let’s see…” he peers down at the beach ball. “ _‘What is your favorite summer activity?’_ Easy, gaga ball tournaments. Especially when I get to crush Alex while doing it.” He passes the beach ball to Alex, smirking. Some of the older campers laugh.

“Not this year. I’m going to win the whole thing this summer.” Alex grins back, then turns his attention back to the circle of campers. “Anyway, I’m Alex, and I’m your other counselor. This is also my eleventh year at camp and my fourth as a counselor. Liam and I have been going here together since we were kids. And my question is… _‘What’s your favorite hobby?’_ Politics, actually. I love being in the loop of that stuff.” He tosses the ball to one of the more tensed-up kids across the circle. “Your turn, dude.”

The kid looks surprised that he manages to catch the ball. “Um… my name is Oliver. It’s my first year at Camp Llw — Llwyn —”

 _“Llwynywermod,”_ Liam chimes in.

Alex waves a hand at the kid. “Don’t worry about it. I still can’t even pronounce the stupid name. Just call it Cannon Falls, it’s what everyone does.”

“Why?” another camper asks.

“There’s a pretty epic waterfall about three miles from the lake,” Alex explains. “When the camp first opened, there would be this huge cannonball contest between everyone. But now Zahra says it’s _too dangerous_ and we can’t do it anymore.” Two older campers boo quietly. Alex recognizes them, he’s had them in his cabin the summer before. “Hey, you can take it up with Mrs. Camp Director herself, but it won’t do you any good. Once Zahra’s made up her mind, there’s no use trying to change it. And trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way.”

“What’s the question on the beach ball?” Liam asks, turning the attention back to the kid.

“Huh? Oh, right.” The tips of Oliver’s ears flush pink. “ _‘What is your favorite animal?’_ Um… horses. They’re pretty, and they’re fast, and they can kick people that are mean to you.” The campers break out into laughs, and Oliver’s face splits into a grin.

“Then you’ll be happy to know that we have a horseback riding trip planned in a couple of weeks,” Liam says. “Now let’s pass the ball to someone else…”

Alex has five campers that he’s known from previous years — Landen, Jack, Ryland, Treyvon, and Carlos. Three are returning campers that Alex doesn’t know — Marco, Elijah, and Elliot — and the rest are all new to Cannon Falls — Asher, Isaac, Jared, and —

“I’m Alex,” the kid sitting next to Alex says loudly, the last camper to be passed the beach ball. “It’s my first year at camp and, uh… _‘What’s something you secretly love?’_ Pranking people,” he rushes out, practically bouncing up and down. “I’m really good at it, too.”

“Dude, you’re like a mini me. That’s awesome,” Alex says, taking the beach ball from the kid. He takes a closer look at him and narrows his eyes. “You seem familiar. Do you —”

“You had my brother for two years,” the other Alex interrupts, and Alex raises his eyebrows. This kid likes to talk a lot. “Dylan Gibbs.”

“You’re Dylan’s brother?” Alex exclaims. “I was so sad when he wasn’t in our cabin. Who’s he with this year?”

“Henry.”

"Ah. Of course."

The older boys start sniggering. Alex looks over at Liam, who shrugs back as if saying _why not?_ And he’s right; why not? Henry is probably telling the exact same thing to his campers now, and Alex is not about to be one-upped by Henry this early in the summer.

“All right, lean in,” Alex says with the wave of his hand. All the boys scooch in, a few still looking uncertain. Alex sweeps his eyes around the cabin dramatically, looking to make sure no one is listening in. Finally, he turns his attention back to the campers.

“As many of you know, there are three different cabins for your age group. The first cabin is run by Nora and my sister June, then this one is run by myself and Liam, and the other boys’ cabin is run by two counselors named Pez and Henry. Now let me tell you a little backstory about Henry.”

“I still think it’s funny how you still can’t pronounce Llwynywermod but you somehow know every single detail about this guy,” Liam mutters, and the boys closest to him laugh.

Alex smacks him in the face with the beach ball. “Anyway, he became a counselor the first year Liam and I also became ones. And he was always so uptight and tense and I figured… why not loosen him up a bit? So I snuck into his cabin and put some food coloring in his toothpaste. It wasn’t even _bad,_ I just wanted to let him know to chill out a bit… so the next morning he walks out of the cabin with bright green teeth, and I couldn’t help it, I just started laughing. And I thought he would laugh with me, but he just stared at me for a long time and went back into his cabin. The next night there was a stink bomb in my bag, and I’m _positive_ Henry was the one who put it there. And since then, there’s always been a prank war between us.”

“What’s our first prank?” Treyvon asks excitedly.

Alex smirks at him. “I’m still working out the details… give me two, three days tops. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I have a plan.” He claps his hands and stands up. “Now it’s tour time! Oh, and also —” He lowers his voice again. “No talks of the pranks outside of the cabin. We never want Henry to suspect anything.”

The first campfire is probably Alex’s favorite night at camp. It was where he and Liam met on the first night of camp eleven years ago, the first moment where he realized that he wanted to spend every summer at Cannon Falls. Now, as a counselor, he can see other kids realizing the same thing. It’s pretty amazing, he thinks to himself as June strums on the guitar next to him. Pretty amazing how he can come back to this place every summer since sixth grade and not grow tired of it.

They’ve already finished performing the traditional safety skit that the counselors perform every year — Alex’s favorite part is pretending to fall out of a canoe and drown with Nora while Amy, a counselor for the younger kids, talks about why it’s important to wear a life jacket. Although, he can’t contain his laughter when Liam, Shaan, and Cash showcase what not to do when buying snacks at the canteen, which always ends in Liam fake-stealing a slushie and Shaan and Cash pinning him to the ground. He even rolls his eyes in amusement when Henry and Pez demonstrate proper etiquette when eating in the dining hall and hides his grin with his hand when Pez explains that it’s not okay to start food fights, then promptly smacks Henry in the face with a piece of bread. And when he, Cash, and Rafael sneak up behind Zahra while she’s giving her final words of welcome and dump a bucket of water onto her, he laughs so hard he cries.

“Well then,” Zahra says, now dripping wet, “I can’t say that I’m surprised by this. To our new campers — I hope this was a great first night for you and wish that many more will follow. This is truly a second home to many of our campers as well as counselors, and I will do everything that I can to make sure that you feel the same way. To our returning campers — I trust that you will do the same to make sure our new friends feel welcome. Remember what you felt like your first night here. And to our counselors —” she stares directly at Alex, who is still wiping his eyes. “Remember that you’re not only role models to our campers, but also their friends. Make sure they feel comfortable here… and the next time you pull a prank, make it less wet.” She waves her hands in the air. “Now off to bed! We’ll have plenty of activities for you tomorrow!”

Liam stays behind with Zahra to help put out the fire, so Alex leads their cabin back to their home base. He chats with some of the new campers on the walk back, who are no longer looking anxious but now excited and full of adrenaline. Pride swells in Alex’s chest.

He does a quick head count as the kids file into the cabin, then takes a second to look around. There’s a low murmur of chatter from the campers walking back to their cabins, a faint buzz of the insects, a soft ripple of water from the nearby lake. Alex closes his eyes, breathes it all in. When he turns back to go inside, he notices a person standing on the porch of the cabin next to theirs. He stops and locks eyes with Henry.

Neither of them move or look away. Henry’s leaning against the front of the cabin, his arms crossed and his head tilted to the side. He’s too far away and it’s too dark outside that Alex can’t read his expression, but he notices the glint in his eye. He swallows.

The first night of camp with Henry is always weird. Weird in the sense that they haven’t seen each other in nearly eleven months, but Alex knows that Henry has been thinking about him in the months leading up to camp. Alex is guilty of it too; often the first thing he thinks of after applying to be a counselor is seeing Henry, Henry and his stupid blond hair and stupid English accent and stupidly gorgeous face, and thinking about just how he could outdo him in pranks this year.

He doesn’t back down. He stares back at Henry, being petty enough to refuse to even blink, and his eyes quickly start to burn. Eventually, Henry pulls away from his gaze and walks inside his cabin without so much as a backwards glance. Alex immediately starts to blink, a smile creeping upon his face. It’s a small victory, but he still won. He has the upper hand now. Even as miniscule as it is, it’s still something. And Alex is going to take advantage of that.

He shoots one last look at Henry’s cabin, as if hoping he would poke his head out again, then walks inside his own.

“Look at him,” Alex says to Liam the next morning. He moves closer to the window. “Who does he think he’s trying to impress? No one’s going to sit down and watch him jog around camp at seven in the morning.”

“No one except you, apparently,” Liam shoots back, which effectively shuts Alex up. He crosses his arms and glares at Liam, who raises his eyebrows at him. “Am I wrong, though? Also, I think you’ve set a new record for how quickly you started bitching about Henry. I’m actually surprised, I thought it would’ve started a lot sooner. I owe you my congratulations.”

Alex throws his pillow at him. “Whatever. As long as he stays out of my way, I’ll be fine.”

“Well, that’s going to be hard for today. Didn’t you see the email Zahra sent us? She assigned us to places for the swim test today.”

Alex’s eyes widen and his hand shoots quickly to his phone in his pocket. “If she paired me up with that piece of —”

Liam waves his own phone in front of Alex’s face, the swim test instructions already pulled up. “Read it and weep, my friend. And you two have the worst section of the test — treading water.”

“What?!” Alex whisper-shouts, snatching the phone from Liam’s grasp. His eyes scan over the email where it clearly says _Treading water: Alex and Henry._ Alex is going to _kill_ Zahra.

He locks eyes with Liam. “Switch stations with me.”

Liam snorts with laughter, grabbing his phone back. “Hell no! I get to watch over the kids who opt out of the swim test. That means two hours of telling stories and building sand castles with a bunch of kids; I’m not giving that up. Suck it, Claremont.”

Alex lets out a huff of annoyance and peers out the window again. Henry is climbing up the stairs to his cabin, frowning as he looks down at his phone. Alex suspects he’s just now finding out about swim test placements. He turns his back towards the window and grudgingly digs out his swim trunks from the bottom of his duffel.

Breakfast seems to go by in a blur, as does their morning activity of rock climbing. His mood doesn’t get any better when he sees Henry at lunch laughing with Pez and Shaan, and during quiet time, when Zahra sends out another email reminding the counselors who were stationed at the water to be at the lake in five minutes, Alex sinks further into his cot and groans into his pillow.

Precisely seven minutes later, he’s walking down to the lake alone (Liam is taking the campers soon after), grumbling under his breath. If Zahra is petty enough to stick him with Henry, then he’s petty enough to be late. Sure enough, Zahra is shooting him one of her familiar death glares when he walks up to the dock. “Pull it together,” she hisses to him as he passes. “It’s only two goddamn hours.”

“Nora,” Alex says quickly. She stops, one foot in a kayak. “Switch places with me.”

She snorts. “So you can hide away your Henry-boner? I don’t think so.”

Alex splutters. “It’s not —” he starts, but Nora is already inside the kayak and pushing off from shore, grinning mischievously at him.

Well. Alex is officially out of options.

With a roll of his eyes, he makes his way to the edge of the dock where Henry already stands, holding a rescue buoy under his arm. He stares straight ahead as Alex takes his place next to him. “Don’t worry,” he says in his soft posh accent, and Alex wants to punch him for making him feel this way. “I’m just as excited about this as you are.”

“Yeah, well, don’t shit yourself over it,” Alex mumbles, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Henry’s nostrils flare. “Good rest of the year?”

“The winter was quite nice,” Henry says back. “You?”

Alex nods in response. “Although, I don’t think anything can compare to watching you get slapped with a loaf of bread last night. Definitely made my top ten summer camp moments.”

He can practically see Henry’s shoulders tensing up as he inhales sharply. Alex jumps back in to take another shot at him. “Hey, no need to get so riled up already. You don’t want me to slip some more food dye into toothpaste, right? I think I’ll go for blue this time, it’ll really bring out your eyes.”

This time, Henry huffs loudly and turns his whole body to face him. “Sometimes you are so —”

A whistle blows back from shore, sending the first wave of campers into the water. Henry turns back to the water without another word to Alex, which is fine to him. Really. The less he has to talk to Henry, the better.

The actual test goes a lot more smooth than he thought it would. Henry times them on his stopwatch while Alex watches for any sign of a kid struggling, where he would then pull them out before anything drastic happened. Out of the four cabins of younger kids, Alex only has to hoist seven kids out of the water. They get a small break before the older campers do their test, then Alex is the one on stopwatch duty and Henry on patrol. The first cabin to swim over Alex recognizes to be Henry’s campers, and choruses of, _"H_ _i, Henry,"_ ring out as they stop in front of the dock. Alex rolls his eyes behind his sunglasses.

“Hey guys!” Henry greets. It’s the first time Alex sees Henry smile this summer, and he can’t exactly place why something flips in his stomach. “I know most of you have done this before, but I’ll give a quick refresher. All of you have to tread water for ninety seconds to be able to swim in the deep end. If you think you won’t be able to make it for that long, just call out and I’ll help you out. Does that sound good?”

The kids nod. Alex pushes his sunglasses to the top of his head so he can see the screen of the stopwatch better. “Okay, ninety seconds starts… now.”

Alex notices some of his campers from past years and chats with them while they tread water. Dylan waves at him from the back of the group and Alex’s face splits into a smile. “How’re you doing, bud?” he asks. “I tried to get you in my cabin this year, but obviously it didn’t work out.”

“It’s been really fun!” Dylan replies. “We played 9 Square in the Air today. Henry’s awesome.”

“Oh really?” Alex asks, shooting a look at Henry. A slight smirk was evident on his lips. “Not as awesome as me, though, right?”

Dylan laughs. “Uh…”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to answer. I know you don’t want to break Henry’s heart when you say you prefer me.” He winks playfully at Dylan, who laughs again. The stopwatch beeps in his hand. “All right, ninety seconds is up. Congrats, you all passed. Just swim back up to shore and Amy and Raf will give you the wristbands.”

June and Nora’s cabin swim up next. Alex talks with them as well, asking them how they’re liking their camp experience and if June told them the story about the first time she jumped from the falls and cannonballed so hard that her bikini top fell off. They swim away, giggling, promising Alex to annoy June until she tells them the full story. Alex knows he’ll get shit for it later, and he aims a kick in the water at his sister as she paddles by in her own kayak.

His cabin swims up next. Many of the boys’ faces light up when they spot Henry, and Alex can’t help but notice the actual, genuine smile on Henry’s face as he talks to his former campers. The kids are about twenty seconds into the test when the other Alex speaks up.

“Alex! Hey, Alex! When are we going to start the pranks?”

Alex does an exaggerated, fake gasp. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Mini Me. How dare you imply that I would ever do something as immature as pulling a prank on our dear Henry?”

The boys laugh and Henry gives a forced one himself. “Oh, I’m sure they’ll start sooner than you think,” he says to the other Alex. “After all, your counselor is pretty obsessed with the idea. I can’t say I’m any different, however.”

Something in Alex’s stomach drops. The stopwatch beeps in his hand, but he doesn’t say anything. He continues to stare at Henry until he realizes that something is wrong. He gives Alex a strange look, then offers his congratulations to the campers and sends them off to get their wristbands. Once they’re out of earshot, he turns and faces Alex. “Are you broken? Or was that some cheeky way of you trying to —”

“Do you think I’m obsessed with you?” Alex interrupts, his voice louder than he intends it to be.

Henry continues to stare at him like he grew a second head. “Alex. You spend the entire month pranking me and Pez. You always make the first move. Sometimes I think you spend the entire summer coming up with ways to infuriate me.”

“I do not,” Alex says weakly, as if he doesn’t have a notebook titled _Pranks to pull on Henry_ in the bottom of his bag back at the cabin.

“So forgive me if I think you’ve always been a bit _obsessive,_ ” Henry practically spits.

“It’s traditional!” Alex exclaims back.

“You pranked me _one time_ our first years as counselors and I retaliated,” Henry says in a low voice. He takes a step closer to Alex. “How you managed to convince yourself that it became a tradition is beyond me.”

“I — you —” For once in his life, Alex is at a loss for words. He never knew Henry felt this way, always thinking that underneath their deep-seated dislike for each other there was some sort of childlike playfulness that fueled their rivalry. And now he’s saying that Alex imagined the entire thing?

Henry turns around and starts to head back to the beach, but Alex isn’t finished. He grabs Henry’s wrist tightly in his hand and pulls him back towards him. “Don’t walk away from me, you mother—”

And maybe it’s because he pulls back a little too hard, or maybe it's because Henry pushes him back, but he suddenly feels his feet slipping off of the dock and his body falling backwards. He hits the cold water hard, and not a second later does he feel Henry’s body falling on top of him, his wrist still firmly clasped in Alex’s hand.

They kick back up to the surface, spitting out water as their heads break. Henry’s shooting daggers at him through his bright blue eyes, and he opens his mouth to yell something at him, Alex assumes, but before any words can come out, another voice rings out from across the dock.

“Henry! Alex! Are you two okay?” Zahra shouts, concern etched upon her face as she hurries down the dock. She crouches down in front of them, taking in the scene. “What the hell happened here? Did you fall…” Her eyes fall upon Henry’s wrist in Alex’s hand, and she blinks. Slowly puts two and two together. “Jesus fuck. Alex, did you _pull him in?_ ”

“Me?!” Alex yelps. “Prince Dickhead over here was the one who —”

“Stop, stop! I don’t want to hear any of it,” Zahra growls, and Alex immediately shuts up. “Both of you — go dry off, then you better march your asses down to my office. Twenty minutes. _Now,"_ she finishes, pointing a long finger towards the shore.

Henry wrenches his wrist away and starts to swim back to the beach, not even giving Alex another look of fury. He would have preferred him to, or maybe even a splash in the face or just anything, but the defeat that settles deep in his gut is so much worse than anything Zahra could bring upon him.

Or not. No, he criminally underestimated Zahra. What she brought upon them was ten thousand times worse than whatever stupid emotion he was feeling at the lake.

Henry forgot to style his hair before coming to Zahra’s office, or maybe he just didn’t care enough to do anything, but his blond hair naturally falls into bangs without any product in it, and it’s so cute and revolting at the same time that Alex has to take a second to process what Zahra says about pairing their cabins up for activities for the rest of the summer.

But Henry gets there first. “Absolutely not,” he says loudly. “This was one incident! We’ve been able to lead our cabins perfectly fine on our own before this.”

“Hold on,” Alex says, finally catching up. “You mean you want us to spend every goddamn second together? We stood next to each other for two hours and he pushed me into the lake!”

“Oh, so now it’s _my_ fault?” Henry exclaims, rounding on him. “As I recall, you were the one who grabbed me —”

Zahra stands up, slamming her hand on the desk, making Henry and Alex immediately shut up. “Believe me, this decision isn’t for you two,” she says in a low voice. “If it was, I would put you on opposite ends of the fucking campsite. This is for the sake of your campers.”

“They love this stuff!” Alex cries out. “My kids are already asking me when the first prank is gonna be. You’ve seen it before, Zahra, they live for it.”

“That is because they see it as pranks. Nothing else.” Zahra’s nostrils flare up, and Alex can’t remember ever seeing her this angry before. “They see the two of you as best fucking friends who like to play the occasional practical joke on each other. But when they hear you two yelling and watch as _the both of you_ throw each other off the fucking dock, they can tell that it was something more than your _traditional_ schemes.”

Alex goes quiet. He didn’t realize the kids heard him and Henry. As he glances as Henry and sees his blank stare, he can tell that Henry feels the same way. He sighs, then rubs his face with his hands. “Fine,” he mumbles. “I’m sorry. I never meant for the campers to hear any of our shit.”

“Me as well,” Henry says quietly. Alex can’t bring himself to look at him for some reason.

“So here’s the deal,” Zahra says, sitting back down in her chair. She sighs heavily, a sigh that Alex is all too familiar with, her usual _I’m-so-done-with-your-shit_ sigh. “Whatever activities that were listed on the itinerary, like leading a hike or the trip to the horse stables, _I don’t care,_ your cabins will now be doing it together. If your campers ask why, tell them it’s because we want the whole camp to bond or some shit like that. But get this in your fucking heads — this is not for you to fight and bicker with each other like an old married couple. This is to show your kids that you two are best of friends. Not even that! Just make it seem like you don’t hate each other. Capiche?”

Both Alex and Henry nod.

“Good. Now go back to your cabins before I lose my goddamn mind. I swear, I need to start day drinking to handle the two of you, Jesus Christ —”

Alex still doesn’t dare to sneak a glance at Henry as they make their way back to their respective cabins. A less than comfortable silence follows them until Alex starts towards the steps of his cabin and a strong hand lands on his shoulder, grounding him in place. He goes very still.

“Wait a moment,” Henry says quietly.

Alex slowly turns around, forcing Henry’s hand to drop back to his side. He crosses his arms. “What do you want?”

Henry chews on his lip, staring up at the sky. “I… didn’t mean for things to go that far,” he says slowly. “I reacted instinctively and… well, I’m not proud of what happened. So if you would like it, I would be very happy to put this behind us.”

Alex blinks up at him, letting his words sink in. He scoffs. “You know, the whole reason why I put that stupid food dye in your toothpaste that first day was to give you a reality check. I saw how tensed up you were; you were treating this like a corporate job. This whole time I’ve been waiting to get some sort of reaction out of you, and today you finally snapped.”

Henry’s face flushes pink. Alex continues on, a grin starting to form on his lips. “Yeah, I’m going to do whatever bullshit Zahra tells us to do. But there’s no way I’m going to forget about that.” He doesn’t ask him why he didn’t retaliate in the water, doesn’t think about Henry swimming away from him without so much as a backwards glance. That doesn’t matter anymore. That small sliver of vulnerability that Henry showed disappeared when he swam away from Alex. “I finally saw you break out. I’m not gonna let that go so easily, not until I figure out what’s pushing you back.”

“You’re insufferable,” Henry hisses, his eyes boring into Alex’s. The promise of putting the lake incident behind them vanishes quicker than his tone changes. “Maybe if you pulled your head out of your own arse you would notice that there’s a certain someone that makes me shut down nearly every time he’s near me.”

His face flushes, and something inside Alex shifts. He’s said too much, and they both know it, although Alex isn’t quite sure what Henry’s referring to. They’re still staring at each other, and Alex forgets to breathe.

In a wordless agreement, they wrench away from each other and walk into their own cabins. It isn’t until Alex is back inside, the kids swarming around him saying how good that first prank of pulling Henry into the lake was, that he notices the tingle of his shoulder where Henry touched him.


	2. Year-Round Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all!! Thank you so much for all the love you've given this fic already!! I'm overwhelmed, seriously. Enjoy the next chapter!

On Friday, three days after the lake incident, their cabins are scheduled to have their first activity together: a scavenger hunt. Alex is still mad that he’s forced to be paired up with Henry, but he’s even more mad when he admits that it _works:_ Liam hypes the boys up with the promise of cabin-on-cabin rivalry and free slushies at the canteen for the winning cabin and Alex is _pissed_ because the competition is so utterly _perfect_ and why oh _why_ does it have to be with Henry’s cabin?

“Because you pulled him into the lake, dipshit,” Liam shoots back when Alex grumbles about it for the fifteenth time today. “Maybe next time you’ll figure out how to control yourselves and then we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Even though Liam is right, that doesn’t mean Alex has to admit it to him. He turns away with a scowl.

“I still don’t get why you can't stand him,” Liam continues. “He and Pez are actually pretty great. You would know if you put aside this petty thing with Henry.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Alex retorts. “It’s not like he’s gonna back away, is he? And I was the one who basically initiated the whole prank war, it would be weird if I just suddenly stopped… and the kids like it, too…”

“Okay, Alex, but that’s always your excuse,” Liam shoots back. “No one is telling you to stop with the pranks. You’re right, the kids love doing them, _I_ love doing them! But even you have to admit that there’s some other reason why you freak out every time you look at him.”

“I don’t _freak out_ —”

He’s interrupted by three of Henry’s campers running up to the arts and crafts table where they’re stationed. Liam shoots him a warning look before turning his attention to the kids. “Hey guys! How’s it going?”

“The clue says we need to ask you guys questions,” the tallest of the boys says, panting slightly. Alex eyes all three of them. He’s definitely seen them around camp over the years, but doesn’t recognize them by name. They must have been Henry’s campers for the past few summers, he concludes. He feels a stab of resentment just at the thought of Henry. Huh. Maybe Liam can be right at times.

“Ask away,” Liam says, leaning back against the table. “I’m sure we can offer you something helpful.”

“Okay.” The boys crowd around the small slip of paper with the clue written on it. “It says we need to ask you…” he points at Liam, “what your favorite song is.”

“Then ask me.”

“Oh, right. What’s your favorite song?”

“Hmm. That’s a tough one,” Liam says playfully, causing the boys to giggle. Alex snorts in amusement. “There’s just so many, but at the end of the day, I think I gotta go with ‘Poker Face.’”

“Like Lady Gaga?” one of the other boys asks. Liam only shrugs.

“And for you…” the taller boy says, glancing down at the slip of paper again. “What’s your favorite movie?”

“I'm always a sucker for _A Star is Born,”_ Alex says.

The boys stare blankly at him. “That’s our clue?” one of them asks. “But that doesn’t tell us anything about —”

“Dude!” the taller boy exclaims, slapping a hand to his forehead. “It’s the gaga pit! We gotta go!”

They sprint away, yelling their thanks back to Alex and Liam. Alex laughs as he watches them run off. “Do you remember doing the scavenger hunt when we were campers?” he asks Liam.

“Yes. Do you remember falling out of the tree when we thought the clue about bark was about the woods and not the dog statue in front of Raf’s cabin?”

“Yeah, that wasn’t our finest moment,” Alex admits. He notices two other campers running towards them and immediately perks up when their faces come into view. “Mini Me! What’s up?”

“You guys are the next clue!” the younger Alex says excitedly. Oliver stands next to him, clutching at a stitch at his side, but smiling as wide as ever. “Liam, quick! We need to know your favorite song!”

Alex and Liam each give their rehearsed answers to the two boys. It takes them a lot longer than Henry’s kids to decipher the clue, but Oliver finally cracks it, and he and the other Alex run off to the gaga pit with fierce determination to win those free slushies. “They better win this for us,” Alex says as they run away. “They’re the first from our cabin to make it to us, and there’s only five clues after this one. I can’t let Henry win this.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Speaking of the devil… you know the hike we’re leading on Tuesday?”

The grin immediately vanishes from Alex’s face. He groans, dropping his head in his hands. “She didn’t.”

“You actually thought Zahra was kidding about all of this?” Liam snorts. “You’re seriously mistaken, my friend. Have fun with him.”

“We don’t need four people to lead a fucking hike,” Alex argues weakly.

“Four? No, it’s just gonna be you and Henry. Zahra switched things around, so I’ll be with Pez at the canteen.”

 _“What?!”_ Alex yelps, shooting up to stare at Liam. “That’s not — she can’t — why can’t you be with Henry?” he finally manages to come up with.

Liam raises an eyebrow. “Because last time I checked, I wasn’t the one who pulled him into the lake,” he says, deadpan, and Alex groans. “You’ll be fine,” Liam reassures. “Don't do anything stupid and blow your shit in front of the campers again.”

“I’m not gonna _blow my shit…”_ Alex murmurs. “It’s just annoying that he’s always with me, that’s all…”

It’s even more annoying, Alex concludes, when the three boys from Henry’s cabin win the scavenger hunt. The kids get over it quickly, especially when Liam takes them all to the canteen and lets them buy their own slushies. It’s not free, but it’s still slushies, and at the end of the day, that’s really all an eleven-year-old cares about. And maybe it was the thought of him and Henry having to lead a hike still fresh in his mind, or Henry’s stupidly gorgeous smile as he high-fives his winning campers, but Alex is left feeling less than satisfied. Maybe this is the tipping point. Maybe Henry needs a reality check.

It’s not until he and Liam are leading their kids back to their cabin when Alex asks, “Who’s in the mood to prank Henry’s cabin tonight?”

Alex skips dinner that night, instead using the time to drive to the nearest Dollar Tree and buy thirty cans of silly string. It’s certainly not his most creative prank, but he knows the campers will get a kick out of it. He doesn’t want to waste his better pranks in the first week of camp, either. This prank is more like a warning, a sneak peak of what’s to come if Henry keeps acting like — like —

Well. Alex doesn’t quite know what it is that Henry’s doing, but it’s pissing him off. He’s sure of that.

He tucks the bags of silly string safely under his cot and goes to meet the rest of his cabin at the campfire. He can tell his campers are excited about tonight, especially the younger kids. The other Alex nearly flies out of his seat when Alex approaches them, his eyes bright. “Alex!” he calls out. “Can I go with you in the cabin? Please?”

Alex grins, but raises a finger to his lips. The other Alex immediately slaps a hand to his mouth, but he’s giggling. “Sorry,” he whispers loudly against his palm.

Alex crouches down in front of his campers, motioning them to come closer. They all lean in, and Alex speaks in a hushed tone. “Here’s the battle plan for tonight. We’re going to be the first cabin to leave campfire so we can get everything set up. Liam is going to talk to Henry and Pez about counselor things right when we leave, so there’s no way they’ll walk in on us getting ready. Carlos, Elliot, Marco, Jared, and Mini Me will be inside their cabin with me. The rest of you will be stationed outside with Liam. We’re gonna have their cabin surrounded.” He flashes the boys a smile. “You guys ready for this?”

They nod enthusiastically at the same as Zahra calls everyone’s attention to the stage, where Raf, Pez, Amy, Nora, and Cash are the entertainment for the night. They launch into an intense game of Party Quirks, one of Alex’s favorite skits to perform for the campers. He nearly cries from laughter at Nora’s imitation of a vampire who’s addicted to garlic and Raf acting as a guest who screams in terror whenever someone says the word “party.” The mood shifts to a much more relaxed one when the flames of the campfire rise to its peak and June is quietly plucking a tune on the guitar. Then finally, _finally,_ Zahra is reading off the activities scheduled for tomorrow and sending them back to their cabins. Alex immediately jumps up. Liam is already making a beeline for Henry and Pez and Alex seizes the opportunity.

“Go, go!” he whisper-shouts to his campers, breaking out into a run before Henry and Pez can look over at them. He hears the kids running behind them, laughing loudly as they hurry to the rival cabin. Alex ducks into their own for half a second, grabbing the bags of silly string and passing it out to the campers.

“Everyone take two,” he instructs, twirling his own cans in his palms. “Jack, grab two extra and make sure Liam gets them. My team, let’s move. And remember!” he says loudly, his campers looking up at him expectedly. “Whatever happens, don’t surrender your silly string. We can’t let them get the upper hand!”

They’ve barely been in position for two minutes when Liam sends him a text: _heading up the hill now. the enemy is right behind me._ Alex warns the other boys, creeping closer to the door, silly string poised in front of him. He can hear the faint sound of their voices now, growing louder with every step closer to the cabin. The wooden stairs creak as they walk up to the door. His five campers are staring at him eagerly, waiting for him to make the first move. Alex holds his breath.

The door swishes open, and Alex yells, “NOW!”

The boys spring into action, spraying five cans’ worth of silly string into the face of an unsuspecting Pez. The campers behind him shriek in surprise as the silly string hits them as well, and they duck out of the way. Pez, the unlucky man that he is, just stands there and takes it like a champ. When the kids can’t spray any more string because they’re laughing so hard, Pez wipes the silly string from his eyes and says loudly, “Alexander, you utter _wanker.”_

Alex gasps dramatically, but he’s laughing too. “He said a bad word!” he exclaims to the boys, who collapse into even more giggles. “Avenge me, brave campers!”

The six of them chase Pez down the wooden stairs into the grass, spraying silly string at the other campers in their path. Liam and the rest of their cabin meet them halfway, spraying silly string in every direction. Screams and laughter erupt from both cabins. Alex leaves the five boys to chase Pez around, slowing down as he reaches Henry, who looks dumbfounded as he takes in the scene.

“What in the absolute —” he starts, then freezes as Alex calmly sprays yellow and pink string into his perfect hair. Alex grins maliciously at him, attempting to shape the string into some sort of swirl.

“There you go,” he says once he’s satisfied with his work, dropping his arms back to his sides. “It’s a hat.”

Henry blinks. “You little —”

But Alex is already running away, aiming another shot of silly string behind him for good measure. He circles around the cabin, trying to find Liam, because he knows that Henry fully intends to kill him. He’s expecting that. What he’s _not_ expecting, however, is Henry running after him. And he’s certainly not expecting Henry to catch up to him, so when he feels a hand close around his wrist and yank him to the ground, he falls harder than would have, and the next thing he knows, Henry is sitting on his hips and pinning his arms to the soft ground before he wrenches the cans of silly string from his grip and aims them both at Alex’s face.

 _Oh shit,_ is the only thing that flies through his mind before the silly string hits him in hair, sprays down his face and torso. Henry doesn’t stop until the cans are empty, spraying every last bit they have to offer before dropping them to the grass besides them. Alex gasps, blinking through the silly string to get a better look at Henry. It’s only then when he realizes the position they’re in — Henry, practically straddling him, looking down at him with adrenaline in his eyes, bits of silly string still clinging to his hair. Alex doesn’t dare to move.

There’s a second of complete silence between them, then the corners of Henry’s mouth twitch, and suddenly he’s laughing, laughing harder than Alex has ever seen him laugh before.

Something in Alex’s chest flutters.

“You look _absolutely_ ridiculous,” Henry says, his shoulders still shaking with laughter. “So this was your big plan? Attacking the cabin with silly string?”

“I still got you, didn’t I?” Alex mumbles, and another laugh rips from Henry’s throat, loud and full.

The same feeling lurches in Alex’s chest again. He pushes the silly string off his face to get a better look at Henry: slightly pink in the face, eyes crinkled, lips curved in a wide grin. He can’t help the stupid smile that spreads across his face, and of course that’s when Henry manages to compose himself enough to look back at him. Alex swears something twinkles in Henry’s eyes as their gaze locks. “What is it?” Henry asks, still beaming madly.

“Nothing,” Alex says quickly. “It’s just — well, it’s nice to see you laugh at one of these instead of shutting down.”

Henry stops. He stares at Alex for a moment, clearly lost in thought, then says, “I suppose it is.”

He shifts then — accidentally or not, Alex can’t tell — judging by the look on his face, however, definitely accidental. His eyes shift down to their touching waists, the palms of Henry’s hands resting on Alex’s stomach, the way Henry’s thighs are hugging his hips. His cheeks are still pink. Alex doesn’t know if it’s from the adrenaline, or from the running, or from the —

“Um,” Henry manages to say.

“Get off him!” a chorus of voices sounds, and Alex tears his eyes away from Henry just in time to see four figures hurling themselves at the two of them. He feels Henry’s weight disappear from his body only to be replaced by four lighter bodies falling on top of him. He groans in surprise, then hears Henry laughing again.

“We’re avenging you, Alex!” one of his campers — Landen — yells. “Quick, spray him!”

Alex breaks into a grin. “Yeah, you show Henry who’s boss. He got me too good.”

“I can’t believe this,” Henry’s voice sounds from next to him. He sounds muffled. Alex can’t see him, but he’s pretty sure that the campers have him pinned down in the grass. “I expected this from Alex’s kids, but _you two —”_ Alex hears Elijah and Elliot snickering in earnest. “My former campers! You’ve betrayed me in the worst way possible.”

“We’re on Alex’s team this year,” Elliot says matter-of-factly, and Alex’s heart swells with pride.

“Yeah!” he exclaims, pushing himself up on his elbows. He can see Henry from this angle — his hair is covered with silly string yet again, as is half his face. Even like this, he still manages to look exquisite. Alex pushes the thought away and says, “Feel the betrayal, Fox. They’re my guys this year.”

Henry sighs in defeat. “I suppose so.”

Liam’s voice rings out from some feet away, calling for backup, and the four boys spring to their feet and rush away. Alex stands up, brushing the grass of his t-shirt, but Henry remains lying on the ground. Alex snorts at the sight of him, and their eyes meet.

“Don’t mind me. I’ll just stay here, accepting my failure.” Henry shakes his head. “My own campers. I’ll never be able to get over this.”

“Former campers,” Alex reminds him. He extends his hand, and Henry takes it, hauling himself up to his feet. “They’re my little army now.”

“With dreadful leadership, no doubt,” Henry responds casually, his eyes twinkling. Alex scoffs, giving his shoulder a small shove. They scan the scene in front of them, the grass covered with the many colors of silly string. “Zahra will have a right fit when she sees this.”

“Yeah,” Alex agrees. “We can clean it up before she sees it, though.”

 _“We?”_ Henry repeats with a laugh. “This was your prank, and I was the unfortunate victim. I think that’s more than enough of a reason to not have to become a part of your clean-up crew.”

“Of course you would play the victim card,” Alex says back, turning to look at Henry. A comfortable silence falls between them, something Alex never thought was possible a day ago. Hell, even an hour ago. He can't help but admit that it's a rather nice change of pace. He and Henry aren't at each other’s throats, aren't pushing each other’s buttons. They're simply existing. Alex doesn't realize how appealing it is until he's actually living it.

But that doesn’t mean he has to like Henry. No. Not at all.

“Hang on, let me wrap my head around this,” June says, setting down her paintbrush. “You’re mad at Henry because he did… nothing?”

 _"Yes,”_ Alex says heatedly. “Is that really so hard to understand?”

It’s been four days since the silly string unleashing, and if Alex thought he and Henry managed to get on slightly better terms with each other that night, he was completely wrong. He hasn’t spoken to Henry since that night — he doesn’t _want_ to speak to him (at least, that’s what he tells himself) — but he and Pez are in charge of running the tie-dye station for afternoon activities, which just so happens to be right across from the arts and crafts table that himself, June, and Nora are stationed at, and if he can’t help looking over at Henry every five minutes, then he can't help looking over at Henry every five minutes. He doesn’t even know _why_ he’s doing so; if he wants Henry to look back at him or if he’s waiting to see some sort of regret on his face.

Because — just as June said — Henry didn’t do anything. And that’s why Alex is pissed.

“Alex, babe, you got what you wanted,” Nora chimes in. She’s not looking at him, fixating instead on the birdhouse she’s painting. “You had fun pranking his cabin, the kids had fun doing it, and you’ve kept up with the tradition. I don’t see what’s making you so pissy.”

“Yeah, _I’ve_ kept up with the tradition,” Alex spits, “but he hasn’t! And I thought we were on the same page that night, but clearly I was wrong, because now he’s just holding up to whatever bullshit he was spewing before he shoved me into the lake.”

June snorts with laughter. “Now you’re just being dramatic.”

Okay. Okay, maybe he has been a little hyper focused on this, and maybe Liam already pointed it out as well, but still. Henry always struck back the next day. It was always smaller, sillier pranks, like covering the doorways with plastic wrap or hiding a whoopee cushion under the sheets of Alex's bunk, but Henry always did something. Alex was on edge all of Saturday, just waiting for the moment when Henry struck, but it never came. And then Sunday happened, and there was still nothing, and Monday passed completely prank-free, and now Alex has given up on the possibility of Henry retaliating. It doesn’t make it hurt any less, though. As stupid as it sounds, Alex thought it was their thing. Maybe he should have taken Henry’s outburst to heart. Maybe he really did make the whole thing up in his mind.

“Well, you’re going to have to confront him soon enough,” Nora offers. “Aren’t you guys leading a hike to the falls later today?”

“Yeah, after dinner,” Alex groans. “Don’t remind me.”

He looks up again out of habit and finds Henry staring back. He gives a small smile and an awkward, half-wave in his direction, and Alex immediately snaps his eyes back down to his own birdhouse. His cheeks feel hot. He glances back towards him not even fifteen seconds later to see Henry’s attention turned back to tying up a t-shirt for one the campers, looking… confused? Saddened? Alex lets his gaze linger. His eyes unconsciously drop to Henry’s hips, and something twists in his gut.

Yeah. He hasn’t forgotten about the straddling thing, either.

He wonders if it’s something he _should_ forget about, wonders if Henry is thinking about it as well. Because Henry definitely noticed when it happened — he was about to say something about it, too — that is, before the kids ambushed him with more silly string. But they didn’t mention it afterwards, and now it’s been four days and much too late to say anything without it being awkward, and Alex isn’t even sure if he should be thinking about it as much as he is.

He bottles in these feelings for the entirety of the day, doesn’t dare risk Henry catching him staring again. Because if Henry’s going to be like this — fine. Fine, then. Alex can be just as petty.

He keeps his eyes trained on the ground as he walks over to meet Henry, doesn’t even look his way when he gets to the start of the hiking trail. A group of campers from June and Nora’s cabin are there already, and Alex immediately launches into a conversation with them. Any way to avoid Henry as long as possible. That doesn’t stop him from feeling Henry’s gaze burning into the back of his skull like a pair of lasers.

They have a good group ten minutes later, around twenty-five different campers, and they take off, Henry at the front and Alex taking up the rear. Alex much prefers it this way; it means he has a great excuse to not talk to Henry. He chats with the kids instead, answering their questions about what Cannon Falls was like when he was a camper (“Pretty much the same.”), who he had as counselors (“Raf and Cash.”), why he and Henry started pranking each other (“Look at him, how could you not?”).

“I think we won!” the other Alex exclaims happily, bouncing on his heels. “They haven’t pranked us back, so that means they’re scared of us. We won, Alex!”

“Slow down, Mini Me,” Alex laughs. “It was never a competition. But you’re right, I’m not sure why they haven’t pranked us back… usually they’ve done something by now.”

Henry turns his head back at that, and Alex can’t tell if it’s a coincidence or not. Judging by the way his jaw hardens, it definitely isn’t. Anger flares up inside Alex again. If he's going to be so pressed over the whole situation, why can't he give in and prank Alex’s cabin like everyone expects him to? At this point, Alex would even be satisfied with something as simple as tying his shoelaces together. Anything to let him know that he wasn’t giving up on this… this _thing_ they had.

“Henry, who did you have for counselors?” Thalia, a girl from June and Nora’s cabin, calls out.

“Oh.” Henry sounds surprised at the question, and Alex holds back a snort. “I didn’t come here as a camper, as a matter of fact. Pez and I started school in the states a couple years ago and we were looking for summer jobs. Pez was the one who found this place, actually. But we loved it so much after our first year that we kept coming back.”

“Oh, cool. Where do you go to school?” Thalia asks, jumping over a large branch.

“New York University. It’s not too far away from the campgrounds, actually —”

Alex stops in his tracks. “You go to NYU?” he asks loudly. He knows he shouldn’t be talking to Henry like this, especially in front of the campers, but he can’t bring himself to care.

Henry raises an eyebrow, clearly thinking along the same lines as Alex but choosing to play civil. “Yes. I’m in the Masters program for English Literature.” Something flickers in his eyes, and he draws his head back. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m starting law school there in the fall,” Alex explains. He doesn’t know how to feel about this newfound revelation.

Because Henry is always summer. That’s the best way he can explain it. Henry is summer, full of relaxation and practical jokes, a time where Alex always feels content with himself. Henry has become so ingrained in Alex’s thoughts of camp that he can’t imagine what it would be like without him one cabin over. But that's just it — Henry is _summer._ Not the fall, full of crunching leaves and college dorms and three in the morning study sessions. He’s not winter, with the ball dropping in Times Square and blizzards that force you to stay inside all day. And he’s certainly not spring, made up of weekends at his dad’s lake house and end of the year celebrations. And now he’s saying that he's about to be all of that?

“You guys can be roommates!” the other Alex exclaims happily.

Henry snaps out of it first. “I’m afraid not," he says with a warm chuckle. Alex sees right through it. "But I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around.”

Well. Not if he can help it.

He keeps silent for the rest of the hike, letting the kids flock around Henry instead of him for once. He’s still trying to process the idea that Henry will be a part of his life outside of the summer, outside of Cannon Falls. The campers hardly seem to notice his disengagement, thankfully, but Henry certainly does, constantly shooting looks back at him. Alex very pointedly doesn’t look back.

But he can’t help himself when they reach the clearing near the falls, the kids running out and peeking over the rocks. He saunters up to Henry as casually as he can and crosses his arms. “So, NYU?” he says to him, as if starting a conversation with him is the most natural thing in the world, as if he hasn’t been avoiding him for the past four days.

Henry stares at him. He opens his mouth like he wants to ask a dozen questions about the past week, but seems to decide against it. “Yes,” he says instead. “Small world, I suppose.”

Alex snorts. “That’s an understatement.”

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what you want from me.”

Alex almost laughs. “I don’t want anything,” he says instead. “But I do think it’s a bit funny. I mean, obviously you’re not from here. So what does a guy who comes all the way from England have —”

“Wales.”

“Whatever. What does a guy who comes all the way from _Wales_ have in New York? At a _summer_ _camp_ in New York, no less?”

“For someone with that big of a head, I assumed you would use it to listen more,” Henry shoots back. “Pez and I were looking for summer jobs and found this place. We were already in New York at the time.”

“Okay, fine,” Alex mumbles. He feels the slight blow of defeat in his chest, furious at himself that Henry managed to one-up him. “But that still doesn’t answer my question. Why New York? Don’t y’all have those fancy ass universities you can slave away at?”

Henry is quiet for a moment, and Alex sits back victoriously, because that’s it; he’s won. But then Henry says in a much softer tone, “My family, um. I needed to step away from my family for a while.”

Shit. Alex didn’t mean for it to get personal. He doesn’t know how to respond to this; he and Henry _never_ get personal. But the silence weighs heavily between them, and it’s quickly becoming too much for Alex to handle. He needs to say something _now._ “Uh. Look, man. I’m — I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry or anything.”

“It’s quite all right,” Henry says, not looking at him.

“No, it’s — I get it. My folks got divorced a couple years back, and some days it got so bad that I just needed to get out. Separate myself from all the chaos, y’know?”

“I don’t suppose you fled the country after giving them a day’s notice, have you?”

Alex’s mouth drops open. He turns to look at Henry, who’s wearing a small, satisfied smile on his face. “You’re kidding.” When Henry doesn’t respond, Alex presses on. _“Henry._ You’ve got to be shitting me right now.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Henry says calmly. “I applied to NYU in secret; gave the impression to my family that I was set to attend Oxford. That was what my brother wanted, anyway; he kept telling me he only wanted what was best for me. I debated between the two for a while, and when Pez eventually decided to commit to NYU, I took that as a sign for me as well. The only person I told besides him was my older sister. Then the night before Pez and I were set to fly to the states, I kindly informed my family of my plans and told them I wouldn’t be returning any time soon. Naturally, my brother threw a fit. So did my gran, as a matter of fact. My mother only wished me the best of luck. But they couldn’t do anything, really, since I’m obviously still here. I haven’t seen any of them except for my sister since then.”

Alex whistles lowly. “Wow,” he says. “Never thought you had something like that in you.”

“Nor did I,” Henry said quietly. “I suppose we all surprise ourselves at times.”

They watch the campers take turns throwing rocks over the falls into the water down below before Henry speaks again. “What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Well, if I remember correctly, you and June are from Texas?” Alex nods. “If you get to interrogate me about my coming to New York, I should be able to do the same. What made you come here?”

“It was Nora, actually,” Alex explains. “Back in grade school we had pen pals from across the country, and June and Nora got each other. We flew up to Massachusetts that summer so they could meet in person. That was also the summer they tried to convince our parents to send them to summer camp together. Clearly it worked out. The year after that they were shipped off to Cannon Falls, and I remember crying at the airport because I wanted to go so badly. I was six at the time, so I still had to wait two years. But I fell in love with the place the second I walked in. It was where I could see Nora every day for a month, it was where I met Liam. That was part of the reason I applied to NYU; I just wanted to be closer to this place.”

“That’s actually quite beautiful.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Alex says, grinning. He makes eye contact with Henry before he remembers he’s supposed to be mad at him. He quickly drops his smile and turns back to the campers. Clears his throat. “Anyway. I say we give them five more minutes then start to head back, the sun’s about to set.”

“The sunset?” one of Henry’s campers cries out, his eyes wide. “Can we stay and watch? Please, please?”

The other kids start to join in, and soon enough, a small swarm of pleading middle schoolers are surrounding the two of them with begging eyes. For a brief moment, Alex fears for his life when he thinks about telling them no. The only thing more terrifying than pleading middle schoolers, he decides, is angry middle schoolers. He really doesn’t want to have to cross that line.

“I did bring a torch,” Henry mutters.

Alex resists the urge to roll his eyes, because of course Henry did, of course he’s prepared for every single scenario. Of course he’s so fucking competent; it makes Alex want to punch him. It also makes him want to push him up against the nearest tree.

Wait, what?

Alex ignores the twisting feeling in his gut and says, “Fine, we can stay for the sunset.” The kids cheer and race back to the falls, and Alex focuses on catching his breath and purposely not looking at Henry. Which turns out to be a pretty difficult task, since it seems like the only thing Henry is capable of is looking at him.

“What?” he finally snaps.

Henry clenches his jaw. “I don’t get you,” he says quietly as to make sure the campers don’t hear. “One moment we’re trading pleasantries by our cabins, the next you’re ignoring me. Now we’re sharing stories, and then you suddenly decide to draw back. So clearly I did something to upset you,” he finishes, crossing his arms across his chest.

Dammit. Henry has backed him into a corner with no escape. Really, Alex should have seen this coming.

“Okay, fine,” Alex mumbles. He heaves out a sigh. “It’s — it’s what you didn’t do, okay? And it’s a fucking _flashlight,_ not a torch. Jesus.” He rubs his face with one hand.

Henry seems taken aback at this. “What I didn’t do?” he repeats, sounding genuinely confused.

“Yes, Henry, what you _didn’t_ do,” Alex practically spits. “You always retaliate! Always! And I thought — I thought we bonded or something the other night, but I guess I was wrong, because you hung me out to dry like I always knew you would. I’ve been on the edge for four fucking days waiting for you to prank us back, I’ve hyped the kids up for whatever you’re going to strike back with, and then you go and deliver absolutely nothing.”

“I didn’t —” Henry opens and closes his mouth, trying to find the words to say. “I didn’t think — you wanted me to prank you back?”

 _“Obviously!”_ Alex whisper-shouts. “What on earth made you think I _didn’t_ want that?”

“I don’t — I don’t know.”

“Well, isn’t that convenient,” Alex snorts. “Thanks for nothing.”

He walks away from Henry and towards the campers, joining in on their game to see who can chuck a rock into the falls the farthest. Alex wins, of course. The campers hate him for it, and a group of girls from June and Nora’s cabin threaten to push him into water. Alex puts up a dramatic fight in response, making the kids collapse with giggles.

They settle in groups along the clearing when the sun finally starts to go down. Alex sits further back from the kids, leaning against a large mound in the grass. It’s been too long since he’s seen a proper Cannon Falls sunset, he realizes. It relaxes him, being in this environment. Being with the kids, with the trees and water surrounding him. He can’t imagine his life without this place.

“You’re very good with them.”

Alex looks up to see Henry standing next to him. When did he get here? “Thanks.”

“May I?” Henry asks, and Alex is nodding before he can tell himself not to. Henry takes a seat next to him on the ground, staring out into the sunset. “I wanted to explain myself.”

“Okay,” Alex says, still slightly hesitant.

“After the silly string incident, I thought we… we _bonded,_ as you said. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought something between us shifted. As if we were slowly starting to come together as acquaintances. Or, at least you hated me less. That’s why I didn’t reciprocate. I thought we were finally at a good change of pace and didn’t want to ruin it. But now I see that’s the exact thing I did,” he finishes with a soft laugh. “I’m sorry.”

Alex’s head is swimming. He thought the exact same thing after that night. No, Henry wasn’t wrong about that. But he was wrong about the way to go about it — Alex _wants_ him to strike back. It’s how they show their endearment; always has been. But — but if that’s not how Henry sees it —

“I never hated you,” Alex finally says. “Did you really think that? I always thought you hated me.”

Henry smiles at that. “Oh, I could never hate you,” he says matter-of-factly.

Alex’s heart just about skips three beats. What the fuck does _that_ mean? He could never hate him, or he never has? Or both? He’s so taken back by the intimacy of that statement that he barely registers what Henry says next.

“If you — if you want to continue with the pranks, I wouldn’t mind. I enjoy them, the kids clearly love them… I wouldn’t mind.”

The sun is just barely peeking out over the tops of the trees, basking the area in a warm, golden light. It hits Henry perfectly, enhancing the strong slant of his cheekbones, his jutting chin, his shining hair. Alex can’t look away.

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I — of course I want to, Henry, what kind of question is that?”

Henry breaks into a grin, and he looks even more beautiful than he did two seconds ago. “Excellent.”

They sit in a comfortable silence together until the sun finally dips under the trees. The kids are already starting to get restless and Alex quickly stands up, offering a hand to Henry. He takes it, a brief moment of bewilderment appearing on his face, and Alex pulls him to his feet. “Give me your phone,” he tells him.

“Sorry?”

“C’mon, I know you have it.” Alex wiggles his fingers impatiently. “Gimme.”

Henry pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and drops it in Alex’s outstretched hand. Alex finds his contacts and starts to type his number into a new slot. “Here. I figured it might be useful, especially if we’re being forced to spend most of the summer together. But, y’know, maybe it won’t be so bad anymore. Just try to remember to pull your big head out of your ass every once in a while, okay?”

Henry laughs, pocketing his phone when Alex hands it back to him. “You’re the one to talk. Need I remind you of the infamous Alex Apocalypse of 2018? Surely you can even see that hiding tiny pictures of your face all over my cabin is dripping with narcissism.”

“Hmm, however you want to see it, Wales.”

The walk back to camp is one of the more peaceful moments so far in the summer. The first-year campers can’t stop talking about the sunset, and the older kids tease them and promise that the sunset is nothing compared to the fireworks on the Fourth of July, and Henry pipes in with an “Ah, yes, a grand gesture to remind me of the failure of my people, what fun,” and Alex actually has to stop to collect himself from laughing so hard.

They meet Nora back at the campsite to collect her campers. She gives Alex a look that so clearly says, _Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?_ And okay, yeah, maybe it wasn’t terrible. Maybe Alex enjoyed part of the hike. More so the talking part rather than the actual hiking part.

He can dissect what all of this means later, he decides as they walk back to their cabins. The kids race each other up the hill. The other Alex gets to the top first, throwing his arms in the air in victory, and Alex gives him a whoop of praise. He doesn’t miss the way Henry smiles when he does so. He also doesn’t miss when Henry waves at him before they disappear into their respective cabins for the night. This time, Alex can’t possibly ignore the way his stomach flips when he waves back and meets his grin.

Well. This is new.

Alex’s phone buzzes in his pocket the next day at dinner. He tears his attention away from Liam, who’s telling the story of the time he and Alex stole Rafael’s entire collection of boxer briefs when they were campers and hid them around camp during a scavenger hunt, and fishes the phone out of his pocket. He blinks at the screen.

 **Unknown Number**  
Zahra just contacted me. She wants us to bring out cabins to the campfire for another bonding session, no doubt. We just left, are you far behind?  
This is Henry, by the way.

 **Alex  
** ugh fine  
give us five minutes and we’ll be there

“We’re having a surprise campfire tonight with Pez and Henry’s cabin,” he tells the boys. “You got five minutes to grab seconds.”

There’s a mad dash to the desert table. Liam turns to Alex, a confused look on his face. “I didn’t hear anything about that. Did Zahra just text you?”

“Nah, Henry did.”

Liam gives a small, knowing smile. “Oh. All right.” He turns back to his food, but the smile never leaves his face. “Didn’t think you two were speaking to each other, let alone on texting terms. How intimate.”

Alex stares at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Liam says back with an innocent shrug. “I take it the hike went well, then?”

“No, it was — I mean, it was fine, but nothing like — nothing happened — oh, _shut up,”_ Alex hissed, shoving Liam’s shoulder as he snickers into his brownie. “I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation with you, Jesus Christ.”

“Oh, I know,” Liam replies. Alex doesn’t ask him to elaborate.

“Alex, do you think we can make s’mores?” Carlos asks him as they make their way out of the dining hall.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t,” Alex says. He pushes the door open and walks outside. It’s a nice night out, a warm breeze flowing through his hair and barely any clouds in the sky, allowing the stars to twinkle as bright as ever. It’s a perfect night for a campfire; Alex doesn’t know why Zahra scheduled it so last-minute. “Zahra usually brings down the stuff, so —”

_SMACK._

Alex stops in his tracks as he gets a faceful of whipped cream. He hears another wet slap and knows that Liam has just gotten hit as well. Laughter erupts from both groups of boys, soon followed by screams after what Alex can only imagine as the other cabin attacking with their own paper plates of whipped cream.

“My apologies for not retaliating earlier,” he hears Henry say, and his voice is low, lower than normal, and it hits Alex like a fucking truck. “Hopefully this will satisfy you?”

“You’re a bastard,” Alex says, his voice muffled by the whipped cream.

Henry laughs, dropping the plate. Alex wipes the dessert from his eyes. “Not your most creative prank, Wales, but I guess I’ll let it pass.” He aims a glob of whipped cream at Henry’s hair, but he ducks out of the way.

“Oh, I know,” Henry responds with a chuckle. “But you kept on bitching about how long it was taking me to prank your cabin, and I couldn’t have any more of that, so I was forced to come up with something quick.”

“Amen to that,” Liam calls out, who has succeeded in pinning Pez to the ground and rubbing whipped cream into his bright pink locks.

“I can’t believe I fell for this,” Alex mumbles. Henry passes him a towel that he has slung over his shoulder, and goddammit, he’s even considerate in the middle of a prank. “All that bullshit about a last-minute campfire; I should’ve known that Zahra wouldn’t put us together again right away. When did y’all get good at this stuff?”

Henry shrugs. “We’ve always been good. Perhaps you’re just slacking.”

“Me? Slacking? Oh, never. Not for this.” _Not for you,_ he almost adds.

Alex is suddenly thankful for the amount of whipped cream on his face that hides his blush. He’s been having more and more of these fantasies, these split-second instinctive thoughts of what Henry does to him. Or what he wants to do to Henry. Or what he wants _Henry_ to do to —

Nope. Nope, he’s not about to go there. Not now.

“Well, thanks for this,” he finishes lamely, handing the towel back to Henry, his face now clean but slightly sticky. “At least I don’t have to worry about a face mask tonight.”

“Of course. If you ever want another, I’m just a phone call away.” Henry grins at him, dazzling teeth and all.

Alex gulps. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to make it through the next three weeks if Henry keeps acting like this. He doesn’t know if that’s something he should want or fear.

Liam stands up, victorious, not noticing when Pez reaches for the discarded plate of whipped cream until he smacks him in the ass with it, and Henry throws his head back and laughs, and Alex realizes that he doesn’t have a choice. He already wants it too much.


	3. When the Bottle Shakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting in the basic rules for gaga ball for anyone who doesn't know so this chapter can make a little more sense. The goal is to be the last person standing, and you get other people out by hitting them with a ball anywhere from the hips or lower. You can bounce the ball off the wall three times before hitting it otherwise any additional touch eliminates you. That's pretty much it!
> 
> To those who were excited about the stargazing tag... I see you ;)

**Alex  
**accidentally stumbled upon the requirements to get into the english masters program at nyu  
so you’re smart smart, huh

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**Yes, because it’s so common to “accidentally” come across those.  
I work hard, that’s all.

 **Alex  
**yeah so do i but what the fuck is this  
a literary criticism and academic purpose statement on top of a gre?? child labor

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**We are both adults, Alex.

 **Alex  
**child labor. i stand by what i said  
ok now i have to know what you got on your gre  
i’m trying to prove a point

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**To whom? Yourself?

 **Alex  
**see the fact that you said whom instead of who like a normal person already proves i’m right  
tell me your score  
tell me your score  
tell me your score

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**337.

 **Alex  
**tell me your score  
fucking WHAT  
i am now convinced that you are a god

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**Oh, hush.  
I think it’s only fair that you share with me your LSAT scores.

 **Alex  
**absolutely not, we’re not done talking about you  
why do i suddenly want to read that long ass literary criticism of yours  
what did you even write it on

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

 **Alex  
**yeah i stand by what i said  
SMART smart

It’s the first day of camp where Alex wakes up sweating, so he knows the Fourth must be getting close. For once, he’s glad that Zahra put him on lifeguard duty. He happily paddles around the perimeter of the lake, playfully splashing the campers when they get too close to the roped-off areas. An hour and a half into free time he sees Henry walking down the dock with a large cardboard box in his hands. Indulged, Alex paddles over to him.

“Couldn’t stay away from me, huh?” he teases, peering over his sunglasses to look at Henry. “What’s in the box? I thought you were stationed at the art table.”

“I was, but it turns out people want to go to the lake on the hottest day of the summer. Preposterous, I know.” Henry shifts the box in his arms. “This box holds, quite literally, two hundred packages of hamburger buns. Sometimes I forget how exorbitant you Americans are.”

“Hey. I’m not gonna tolerate this slander, especially on good ol’ Independence Day. Keep those hurt British feelings to yourself, suck it up, and eat a hot dog.” His eyes widen. “Oh my god, Henry, have you ever eaten a hot dog before?”

“You _can’t_ possibly be that daft,” Henry laughs. “Yes, of course I have. As one of the designated grillers of the camp, you should know that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alex flicks the lake water at Henry with his paddle. It splashes him on his sandals. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Or is this just Bully Alex time?”

“Oh, you don’t know how badly I wish it could be the latter,” Henry muses, shaking out his wet sandal. “But you’re right, I do have to get going. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”

“Oh.” Alex is surprised at how casual he says it, like they’re a pair of lifelong friends, like this is a natural routine for them. Whatever the case, he likes it. He can’t bring himself to even pretend as though he doesn’t. “Hi.”

Henry breaks into a grin. “Hi,” he says back. “I’ll, erm, see you around?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

If Alex bottled his feelings up that day before the hike, he must have glued the cap shut, because he could practically _feel_ the bubbles forming as the bottle shakes. Or maybe that’s just the butterflies in his stomach. As he watches Henry walk back down the dock, he wonders just how much carbonation he’ll be able to handle before the bottle can’t take it anymore and the cap flies off. Before his emotions completely encompass him.

“Didn’t know you two were friends,” a voice says, and Alex jumps so violently that he nearly falls out of the kayak. He looks up to see Amy sitting in the other lifeguard chair, looking at him pointedly.

“We’re not friends,” Alex says quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.

Amy clicks her tongue. “Yeah. I’ve heard that one before.”

**Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
** _[Image attached]  
_Peeking around in the canteen. Care to explain this?

 **Alex  
**DUDE HOLY SHIT  
i can’t believe you haven't noticed that until now it's been there forever  
it’s my legacy, obviously

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**You mean to tell me that your legacy is drinking twelve slushies in less than an hour when you were thirteen?

 **Alex  
**obviously  
i got free slushies for the rest of the summer that year. totally worth it

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**Quite.  
And how many times did you vomit afterwards, exactly?

 **Alex  
**three. the last time was on liam’s bunk  
still worth it

 **Henry💩🪥🍞🇬🇧  
**You are extraordinarily inane.

“Catch me up, Mini Me,” Alex says, leaning up against the walls of the gaga pit. “Who’s winning?”

“Liam, obviously,” the other Alex says quickly. His eyes are wide with wonder as he watches the fast-paced game of gaga ball going on in front of him. “He’s won the last three games! But Nora beat him the first time. He’s gonna win this one too, I know it.”

Alex takes in the game. It’s down to Liam and Pez now; Liam’s eyes clouded with concentration as he bounces the ball off the wall over and over again, slowly circling his opponent. If there’s one thing Liam takes seriously, Alex has learned over the years, it’s gaga ball. It’s also the one thing that Alex can never beat him at. It infuriates him.

“All right. I’m joining in next game. What do you say, Mini Me? You gonna jump in and help me take down Liam?”

“Yeah!” the other Alex squeaks happily, just as Liam smacks the ball with his open palm. It rises a couple feet into the air, bounces off the wall of the pit, and hits Pez squarely in the hip. Victory once again.

He heaves himself over the pit and helps the other Alex do the same. The older campers from his cabin start piling into the pit, yelling cheers of encouragement at Liam and threats of being taken down at the same time. Liam waves them away, locking eyes with Alex. His eyes immediately narrow.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he declares, pressing himself against the pit’s wall. “Ready to be destroyed again, Claremont?”

“Not this time,” Alex promises. He slides off the bandana that’s tied around his wrist and ties it around his head instead, pushing his curls out of his eyes. “Today’s my revenge. Fifteen years’ worth of it.”

“Ha, we’ll see about that.”

Alex doesn’t even realize Henry’s slipped himself into the pit until he catches sight of him standing beside Pez, one hand flat against the wall, ready to charge towards the ball. Alex feels lighter all of a sudden.

“Never took you for a gaga player, Wales!” he calls out.

Henry meets his gaze, a competitive glint in his bright blue eyes. Alex blinks. That’s new. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Liam is the first one to reach the ball when the game starts, as always. He smacks it hard in Alex’s direction, who easily jumps over it. The ball ricochets off the wall and into the hands of a girl from June and Nora’s cabin. She bounces it off the wall and aims it at a group of Henry’s campers. It bounces off the ankles of one boy, hitting another one in the calf. They trudge off, grumbling as they exit the pit. One of the other boys takes control of the ball and sloppily hits it across from him. The ball catches the side of his hand and spins to the left, right into Nora’s path. She grins and quickly takes control of the ball. The girls from her cabin scream when she steps into the middle of the pit. They clearly know what direction this is going. Alex does as well.

Nora takes the time to single out each girl from her cabin, not stopping until she has succeeded in hitting each of her campers in the legs. They crowd around the outside of the pit when she’s finished, giggling and cheering her on. Their cheers ring in Alex’s ears when Nora zeros in on him.

She bounces the ball against the wall once, twice, then hits it hard in his direction. Alex ducks out of the way. The ball hits the wall instead, and when it bounces back in the opposite direction, he aims a well-timed hit towards Liam. It catches him by surprise, and the ball misses him by inches. Alex gives a whoop of approval.

Asher gets himself out by doing a double-touch. Treyvon rushes towards the ball and smacks it at the other Alex. He blocks it with his hand but moves away, unable to touch the ball again. Alex bounces it against the wall again, giving himself some leverage, and aims it back at Treyvon. He jumps over the ball but forgets to move out of the way. The ball hits the wall and bounces back, bumping against the backs of his sneakers.

“I’ll avenge you, kid!” Liam shouts. He smacks the ball back at Alex, aiming upward so it flies off the ground. Alex jumps over it with difficulty, forced to spread his legs to the sides in order to avoid contact with the ball. He doesn’t miss the way Henry snorts with laughter at his awkward position.

Thalia takes the ball next, hitting the ball towards an unsuspecting Nora, who somehow missed her during her attack. The ball leaves a ringing smack on her thigh. She stands there for a moment, shocked, but eventually her lips curl into a grin. “Respect,” she simply says, jumping back over the wall. “Now get Alex out for me.”

Alex is fully prepared when Thalia hits the ball at him this time, but so is the other Alex. He jumps in front of his counselor, smacking the ball out of the way. It hits the wall, then Pez, who didn’t move out of the way fast enough. The other Alex charges towards the ball once again and hits it hard at Thalia. She misses the block and the ball slams into her ankles.

“You’re on fire, Mini Me!” Alex yells. “Oh crap, move, _move_ —” he chants, pushing his camper out of the way as Liam charges at the ball, but he doesn’t go after them like Alex thought he would. Instead he channels in on the four boys still standing; Ryland, Jack, Marco, and Dylan from Henry’s cabin. He hits the ball in their direction and Dylan sends it right back. Liam successfully dodges out the way, but the other Alex isn’t so lucky — the ball just grazes his shin.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get him back next game!” Alex assures him as he sticks his tongue at his brother. He high fives the kid before he climbs out of the pit and focuses back on the game. Liam has the ball again, and he bounces it against the wall, inching closer to the four boys. He does it again. The boys scoot closer together, no doubt in an attempt to protect themselves from what’s about to come, and Alex knows what’s going to happen a second before it does. Liam bounces the ball off the wall the final time, higher than the first two, and smacks it hard at the boys. The ball sails through the air and through a gap between the wall and their packed bodies, ricocheting repeatedly off the pit and the boys themselves, hitting each of them in the backs of their knees one by one. The crowd of campers watching the game gasps. Yeah, there’s a reason why Liam is known as the gaga ball champion.

It’s just the three of them now — Alex, Liam, and Henry. Liam shoots him a look, jerking his head in Henry’s direction. Alex nods.

He doesn’t remember if he’s played gaga against Henry before. He’s sure he hasn’t, because — well. To put it simply, Henry is good. Alex definitely would have remembered playing against him, definitely would have remembered the way his biceps flex when he hits the ball, the way his hair sticks to his sweaty brow. It doesn’t distract him. No, of course not.

He doesn’t seem to realize that Alex and Liam are teaming up on him, and in a split second, Alex realizes that he can use that to his advantage. Not against Henry, but against _Liam._

The next time Henry hits the ball at him, he ducks out of the way and taps the ball against the pit. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Liam relax slightly, fully expecting Alex to deliver the final blow at Henry. Alex bounces the ball again, trying to get more leverage. He keeps his gaze locked with Henry, trying not to give his plan away. Henry is ready for him as well, his hands covering his knees, crouched low to defend his legs. Neither of them knows what’s about to happen.

He hits the ball against the wall for a third time, then smacks it hard with the palm of his hand, but in the opposite direction that he’s facing. The ball hits Liam in the hip. His jaw drops.

“YES!” Alex exclaims. He’s so amped up on the adrenaline from the game and from finally, _finally_ beating his best friend that he doesn’t notice Henry take control of the ball until it’s too late. The ball slams into his legs. He’s out.

 _“Henry!”_ Liam shouts jovially, his eyes wide. He’s still in the pit — everything happened so fast that he didn’t even think to get out. “What a move! Take that, Claremont, how does it feel?”

How does it feel? Well, if this summer was like any of the others with Henry, he would be downright furious. He would be pissed off that Henry had beaten him, and he would gladly bitch about it, and he probably would accuse Henry of cheating as well, but. But.

That would have been last summer. The summer before that. This summer, Alex is… weirdly okay with it.

The bottle shakes again when he meets Henry’s eyes, focuses on the smug grin on his face. Fuck.

“I still beat you, didn’t I?” Alex says back. The pit starts to fill up again for the promise of another round. “That’s all I care about.”

“Yeah, whatever. It’s time for a rematch.”

Alex holds up his hands in surrender, making his way to the exit. “Absolutely not. This win was fifteen years in the making, and I’m not even gonna risk it. I’m retired now. You’ll never be able to beat me in gaga again.”

Liam snorts, rolling his eyes. “Of course you would pull something like that,” he laughs. “All right, fine. If you’re never gonna play against me again, can you at least grab me a bottle of water?”

“Sure thing.”

The next game has already started by the time Alex walks back to the pit, clutching a dripping bottle of water in his hand. He leans against the pit walls and takes in the game: Liam, Nora, Henry, and Pez are all back-to-back in the center of the pit, taking turns targeting each of their respective campers with the ball. It isn’t long until it’s just the four of them left, and despite Henry’s latest victory, Liam beats them all easily. Alex passes him the water when it’s over but keeps his eyes trained on Henry. “What happened there, Wales?” he calls out. “Thought you were a gaga master by the looks of last game.” Henry just rolls his eyes at him.

“It’s nice to see you two finally getting along,” Rafael’s voice comes from behind him, and Alex turns around to see his former counselor. “Got any room?”

“Yeah, get over here.” Alex scoots over so Raf can lean against the wall alongside him. “It’s good to see you again, man. We haven’t really gotten the chance to catch up yet this summer. How’s your kids?”

“Oh, they’re great,” Rafael responds. “Definitely nervous at first, but they’ve been warming up. This one kid reminds me of you, actually. Never knows when to shut up. Bit of a smartass, too.”

Alex laughs. “Bit harsh for an eight-year-old, don’t you think?”

“Like that stopped you,” Rafael says back, clapping a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I swear, kid, you made me age five years in one summer.”

“You love me, though.”

“That I do.”

They watch the game in silence for a while — Liam is taking charge again, to no one’s surprise — when Rafael speaks up again. “So you and Henry, huh?”

Alex thinks back to what Amy said to him yesterday — _“Didn’t know you two were friends.”_ Alex doesn’t quite know what they are, but friends seem to work. Friends, yeah. He can work with that.

“Yeah,” he says lightly, treading on his words. “We’ve been… we’ve been talking some more. He’s actually not that bad. And, uh. He’s also going to NYU. So that’ll be interesting.”

“Whatever the case, it’s refreshing to not see you at each other’s throats,” Rafael responds. “Although… well. Never mind.”

“What?” Alex asks, suddenly interested. He tears his eyes away from the game.

Raf smiles slightly. “It’s just that the two of you have been dancing around each other for years now. And I know the pranks are your thing, but you have to admit that it’s more _your_ thing than Henry’s. But now you two are getting closer; I mean, it’s clear to everyone that you are. We all appreciate it, I think Zahra does especially. What I’m trying to say is…” he pauses, trying to find the right words. “He’s finally starting to show another side of him to you. Don’t make him rush it. And if you’re going to let him down, do it gently.”

“Huh?” is all Alex can manage. He can’t comprehend what Raf is trying to tell him. What he thinks he’s implying.

But Rafael only laughs, squeezing his shoulder affectionately. “You’re bright as ever, kid,” he says. “Henry’s a good guy. Just take your time.”

Alex still doesn’t understand what he means. But his gaze drifts back to Henry automatically, taking him in laughing as he smacks the ball at Pez, and he can feel the cap to the bottle slowly start to unscrew.

**Alex  
**remind me  
did you ever go to a summer camp as a kid?

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Never. Llwynywermod is the only one.

 **Alex  
**of course you would call it that

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**I’m using its proper name, Alex.

 **Alex  
**so riddle me this  
if you never went to camp until you were a college freshman how the hell are you so good at gaga  
and don’t tell me you practiced, because i don’t have any memory of playing against you over the years

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**There are some secrets I’ll never tell.  
I will say that I love a good competition. I actually played my fair share of polo growing up.

 **Alex  
**polo???????????  
you have to be joking

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**I am not.

 **Alex  
**ok i just looked up the rules and what i’m getting is just lacrosse on horses  
i bet i could take you

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**I can assure you that it is much more complicated than that.

 **Alex  
**sure it is  
i think you’re just saying that to make you feel better when i inevitably beat you because it’s just lacrosse on horses  
but you’re competitive??? that’s new

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Is that really a surprise?  
Why do you think I pranked you back that first summer?

 **Alex  
**idk i just assumed the shame and humiliation of being one-upped by me finally got to your head and you weren't able to take it anymore

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Ever the observer.

 **Alex  
**you barely talked to me, what was i supposed to think?  
that it was your dying wish to get back at me?

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**You're hilarious.

 **Alex  
**you're not slick, wales  
take your sarcastic ass to someone else who wants it

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Did you not text me first?

 **Alex**  
uh  
perhaps  
my point still stands

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Of course it does.

Alex isn’t constantly thinking about his conversation with Rafael yesterday, and he’s definitely not overanalyzing his words either. No, of course not.

Who is he kidding? Whenever he looks at Henry — across the dining hall at breakfast, passing the canteen during morning activities, stopping to watch as he leads his cabin in a game of 9 Square in the Air — Raf’s words come back to him. _The two of you have been dancing around each other for years. Henry’s a good guy. If you’re going to let him down, do it gently._ Alex doesn’t know what to make of any of it.

Except… except he might. He might know. He might not be willing to admit it to himself, however.

Henry is attractive. He knows that; he can freely confess that without it meaning anything. But as he lays in his bunk in the middle of the night, thinking about his interactions with Henry over the summer so far, he finds himself thinking less of the pranks they’ve pulled on each other or their conversations and starts thinking more of the way the sun reflected off of Henry’s hair that night on the bluffs, his low voice when he pied him outside of the dining hall, the way his thighs felt bracketed on either side of —

Nope, Alex decides and rolls onto his side, pulling out his phone from where he tossed it in his bag. Nope, he’s not going there tonight.

 **Alex  
**fourth of july in two days. how does it feel, colonizer?

He’s not sure what prompted him to text Henry in the first place, and he’s not even sure that Henry will respond. It is the middle of the night, after all. Alex chews on his thumbnail, suddenly very tense.

Seconds later, the little bubble from Henry’s side of the screen pops up, and Alex can practically feel himself relax. Henry’s response comes through soon after.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Terrible. Truly the lowest part of the summer.  
In all honesty, the day is actually quite fun. Pez gets a real kick out of it. He doesn’t understand all the extravagances that come with it but once you hand him a sparkler, it’s as if he’s never stepped foot in Europe.

 **Alex  
**fireworks will do that to you  
someone’s up late

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**I should be telling you the same thing.

 **Alex  
**yeah but i have a good excuse

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**And what’s that?

 **Alex  
**just thinking

Alex bites his lip, debating. Then before he knows it, he’s typing out a message and pressing send.

 **Alex  
**do you think we’re friends?

It takes a minute for Henry to respond, but eventually his message comes through.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**I think if we aren’t already, we have a very good chance of becoming friends.  
I enjoy your presence and I look forward to our cabins’ activities together.  
If you want to think of us as friends, I would be honored.

 **Alex  
**jesus christ you are such an english major  
“i enjoy your presence” who says that????  
but i guess i enjoy yours too

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Oh look, he has feelings.

 **Alex  
**hahahaha very funny  
you’re just definitely not the guy i thought you were that first summer and i guess i owe you an apology for that  
i automatically assumed you were some boring bland guy when you’re actually a badass who leaves when he wants with barely any warning. fucking awesome

Henry doesn’t answer after that, and Alex assumes that he’s fallen asleep. Which is understandable — it’s currently ten minutes past midnight, and Alex has to be up in six hours to open up the Rec Center. But instead of sleeping, he’s texting Henry. And Henry is texting him back. Or, was texting him back.

Five minutes later, he’s given up hope that Henry would actually continue on with their conversation when his phone buzzes in his hand.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Come outside?

Alex falters. Outside? For what? What’s so important that Henry can’t just text it to him?

Henry doesn’t elaborate, and after a couple more seconds of staring at the screen, Alex realizes that this might be a little more serious than he originally intended.

 **Alex  
**yeah sure

He creeps past Liam’s sleeping figure and slips past the screen door, shutting it quietly on his way out. He turns to look at the cabin next door and spots Henry sitting on the steps of the porch, his head tipped back, staring at the stars. He’s suddenly reminded of their peculiar staring contest the first night. He smiles to himself at the memory.

“Hey,” he says when he reaches Henry. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for Orion,” Henry responds, his voice surprisingly soft. “And waiting for someone to join me.”

“All right, smartass, I get it.” Alex moves to sit next to Henry. There isn’t much room on the step and their knees knock together. Henry doesn’t seem to mind. Alex definitely doesn’t mind. “Educate me on Orion.”

Henry tilts his head. “Well, according to the Greeks, Orion was a hunter who was hired to defend the island Chios. He became a bit overexcited about the job and swore to kill every animal that stepped foot on the land. Gaia, the goddess of Earth, overheard him and was not too pleased about it. She was the protector of all animals, you see. So she set a giant scorpion on Orion, and he was stung to death. Scorpius is actually right there —” He lifted his arm to the sky, tracing the stars in a curled line. “Gaia put it in the sky as a reminder to be kind to every animal. And right in front of Scorpius is Orion, doomed to be chased by the beast forever.” He drops his hand.

Alex lets out a low whistle. “Gaia isn’t fooling around.”

Henry chuckles. “No, she certainly isn’t.”

“I’ve got one for you,” Alex says. Now it’s his turn to trace the constellation. “You see those three stars right next to Orion?”

“I think so,” Henry says, scooting closer.

“Yeah, that’s the line constellation.”

Henry laughs, loud and full. “You are quite the observer.”

“Oh, no doubt.” Henry is still smiling at his lame joke, and Alex can’t look away. He looks good. He really does. “Hey,” he says, softer this time. “As much fun as this is, I know you didn’t ask me to come outside just to look at the stars.”

The smile slips from Henry’s face. “No, I didn’t. It was, um. It was what you said about my leaving, actually. I didn’t exactly tell you the full story.”

“You don’t have to —” Alex says quickly.

“No, it’s… it’s fine. I promise.” A sigh escapes from his lips. “The other reason for my leaving was because my father passed away earlier that year. He had pancreatic cancer. We all knew it was coming, but it just… it still happened so quickly. After that, my mother kind of shut down; she mostly kept to herself. My brother developed the notion that he was now responsible for being the man of the house. I know it wasn’t their intent, but it felt like they were replacing them. They were moving on too quickly; at least, too quickly for my liking. That’s when all the other problems started coming up, pressure from Philip, from my gran… I figured I had to get away. New York was the first place I looked at because it reminded me somewhat of my father. He shot a couple movies down here when I was younger.”

Alex nods, trying to process everything Henry spilled out to him. He blinks. “Movies?”

“Yeah. He was James Bond.”

It takes a second for that revelation to sink into Alex’s brain. “Oh my _God,”_ he finally says, smacking a head to his forehead. “Your dad is Arthur Fox? How did I not put that together earlier?”

“I don’t go about boasting about it,” Henry admits. “Especially not now. Maybe it’s selfish, but I’d rather keep the memories of him to myself rather than share them with people who thought they knew him.”

“It’s not selfish,” Alex manages, although he’s still in shock about Henry’s dad. Now that he knows, now that he takes another look at him — the resemblance is uncanny. The same blond hair, the same sharp jaw, the same jutting chin. He remembers hearing about his death on the news when he was seventeen. He never knew — even when he first met Henry, he never knew. “Henry, you deserve those memories more than anybody. He’s — he’s your _dad,_ for Christ’s sake. You shouldn’t have to feel selfish for wanting to keep some parts of him to yourself.”

Henry doesn’t say anything. He just purses his lips together and looks back up at the sky.

“Hey.” Alex bumps his knee against Henry’s. “Thanks for telling me this. I’m sure it’s not the easiest thing to bring up.”

Henry nods. “When I was a kid, probably six or seven, he would take me outside and show me the constellations. Then his career started to take off, and the diagnosis happened… a couple weeks before he died, he was still at home. I pushed him outside in his wheelchair and just sat with him under the stars. He was barely conscious, I don’t even know if he had any recollection of that.” He pauses. “But I’m glad we got the chance to do one last thing together.”

“I’m also glad you got to.”

Henry sighs shakily. He wipes his eyes. Alex pretends to not notice. “So that’s the other reason why I left. I couldn’t stand being there without him, and then I couldn’t even find the courage to tell my family that I was leaving until the night before. Not my finest moment.”

Alex snorts. “Who said it had to be?” Henry doesn’t respond. “Hey. Seriously. I still think that was a badass move on your part. It was a really brave thing to do.”

Henry stares at him for a moment, unblinking, and Alex suddenly worries that he’s said something wrong. Then the next second, Henry has his arms around him and is pulling him into a tight hug. And _oh._ Oh.

This is… nice.

Henry’s arms are strong wrapped around his torso and his head fits snugly in the crook of his neck. He hugs him back, pressing his cheek against his shoulder, and _fuck,_ he smells good, too, a mix of laundry soap they use for the cabin sheets and late-night campfires. He smells like summer.

“Thank you,” Henry says, his voice slightly muffled from where he’s pressed against Alex’s shirt. “I don’t usually talk about these things with a lot of people, but… but it’s easy talking with you,” he finishes quietly.

“Yeah,” Alex breathes out. “Yeah, it really is.”

They pull away after a few minutes, and Alex suddenly feels cold even though it’s still humid outside. He checks his watch. “I have to open the Rec Center in five and a half hours,” he says with a groan.

Henry smiles. “Well, that’s no fun. Perhaps I’ll pay you a visit.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that promise, Wales.” Alex stands up and aims a friendly kick at Henry’s foot. “Now actually try to get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“If you insist.”

His phone lights up again when he’s back in his cabin, climbing under the covers. He unlocks it to find another message from Henry.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Thank you again for listening. It means a lot.

 **Alex  
**anytime  
goodnight wales

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🇬🇧  
**Goodnight, Alex.

The bottle keeps shaking. Alex isn’t sure how much longer he can handle it.


	4. Ignition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter one today, but I think you'll enjoy the ending :)

Saturday at Cannon Falls is the perfect definition of organized chaos. As it always is on the day before the Fourth, the counselors are running around everywhere with last-minute decorations, boxes of ordered food, packages of fireworks. Alex, June, and Pez spend the entire morning lugging the three grills the camp rented from the drop-off zone to the campfire area. Afterwards, it’s a quick lunch break before afternoon activities break out. Alex isn’t scheduled for any of the usual stations; instead, he and Shaan are sent to the open field near the girls’ cabins to set up the large, inflatable aqua obstacle course. Well, more like Shaan is sent to set it up, and Alex is there to chase wandering campers away if they ever come too near. The Fourth of July activities are always supposed to be a surprise, but the older campers talk. They always do.

It’s the main topic of interest when Alex walks into the cabin, finally done for the night. Half of the boys are in the middle of an intense game of Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Floor (Alex doesn’t even know where they managed to swipe a balloon, and he doesn’t care) while the others are crowded around Liam’s bunk, asking questions about the festivities scheduled for the next day.

“Is it true Cash backflips off the falls before fireworks?” Isaac asks as soon as Alex walks through the door.

Alex can’t help it — he bursts out laughing. Liam throws a sock at him to shut him up. “Who told you that?” he asks Isaac.

“Landen.”

“Don’t listen to any of them. There’s always rumors spread around about what’ll happen on the Fourth; the older campers have this tradition of coming up with the most outrageous ones they can think of to try and fool the new kids. If I remember correctly, Alex came up with some pretty good ones our last year of being campers.”

“Oh, yeah,” Alex says, sitting down next to Liam on his cot. “I convinced everyone that Amy was the former women’s champion of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and because of that, the next one was actually going to happen at Cannon Falls. I also said that Cash was going to wear a tutu the entire day. I’m still trying to make that one come true,” he promises as the boys break into giggles.

“My brother says that Cannon Falls has the best fireworks show!” the other Alex exclaims, practically bouncing up and down from excitement. “Is it true? Are the fireworks big?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see for yourself, Mini Me,” Alex responds as his phone buzzes in his pocket. He quickly opens the text.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🌟🇬🇧  
**Apparently there’s a rumor going around that you and I are going to sword fight to the death at the falls. I wonder who started that?

 **Alex  
** omg omg WHAT  
it wasn’t me i swear  
henry we have to  
we HAVE to  
we can’t let the kids down like that

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🌟🇬🇧  
** Absolutely not.  
I need to keep you alive long enough to hear about the infamous dining hall food fight of 2010 that a certain someone promised to share with me.

 **Alex  
**fuck i forgot about that

As promised, Henry stopped by the Rec Center the other morning after their late-night stargazing session. What was more, he came with a cup of steaming coffee that he had managed to steal away from the dining hall (“Figured you might need some of this,” he said, passing the cup to Alex, and Alex’s heart flipped in his chest). He stayed with Alex as he uncovered the ping pong and foosball tables, unlocked the camp store attached to the Rec Center, folded the camp t-shirts, where they chatted about nothing in particular and everything all at once: Alex’s plans for law school, how Henry had excellent taste in coffee, the food fight that Alex had started at age twelve, which was the reason why they had to include the bit about no food fights in the counselors’ opening night skit.

“You must tell me,” Henry pleaded, his eyes shining. “How many aneurysms did Zahra have that day?”

“I’m not telling you anything more,” Alex said back, and then his eyes fell upon the ping pong table. “Except if you beat me. If you win, I’ll tell you the full story, but if I win, I get to shove you into the lake on the Fourth.”

“You’ve already done that, remember?” Henry teased, but he was already moving to the other side of the ping pong table.

“Nuh-uh, Wales. You pushed me. I will always stand by that.”

Alex lost. Badly. He managed to stall long enough before Liam came looking for them, pulling Alex away to take their campers to breakfast. And with all the Fourth of July preparations, he and Henry haven’t been able to find a secluded time to talk.

The balloon hits him on the top of his head, and he snaps his gaze away from his phone. Liam is staring at him expectantly. “What?”

“If you were _listening,”_ Liam drawls, ducking as Alex hits the balloon at him, “Elliot was asking what prank you have planned for Henry’s cabin tomorrow. But it’s clear you’re too busy texting him like a lovestruck middle schooler to pay attention.”

“Yeah, why do you guys get your phones?” Jared pipes up, thankfully missing Liam’s other comment. “Why can’t we have ours?”

“Because we’re the ones in charge,” Alex replies. Liam hits the balloon back to the boys in the back, and they immediately resume their game. “And besides, we don’t use them for fun things. We have them in case there’s an emergency, or if Zahra needs to contact us about a time change, or if one of you little troublemakers get caught doing something you’re not supposed to do. Like Asher over here trying to jump off the falls.”

“What’s the point of going to a camp called Cannon Falls and not getting to jump off it?” Asher cries out in defense, making the other boys laugh.

“Alex, what’s the plan?” Elliot asks through snickers. “You always prank Henry on the Fourth of July. And I get to be on your side this time!”

It’s true: Alex does prank Henry’s cabin every Fourth of July. It’s not much of a secret, either — in fact, it’s one of the nights that nearly the entire camp looks forward to. The only problem is that Alex has been so busy texting and talking with Henry that he forgot to plan some elaborate stunt for the Fourth. He racks his brain, thinking of ideas.

“I’m not gonna give too much away yet,” he says, and the campers look even more excited about the mystery behind this prank. Suddenly, the aqua obstacle course pops into his mind. “All I’ll say is be prepared to get wet.”

Liam wakes the cabin up in the morning by blasting _Party in the USA_. Morning activities are planned as normal, except for Alex and Nora’s job, which involves driving around the camp in a golf cart decked out in red, white, and blue and delivering festivities to the campers. Alex barely has a second in the dining hall to grab a waffle and admire how Henry looks fucking good in the stupid Fourth of July themed staff shirt that they were forced to wear before Nora is pulling him away.

“We need to play the whitest white people songs,” Nora promises as they get the golf cart prepared. There’s a speaker that they hauled up sitting on the back seat, and Nora is busy hooking up her phone to the speaker. “I’m talking _Sweet Caroline, Born in the USA, American Pie,_ all that good shit. I wanna see these kids go fucking crazy.”

And crazy they go. Alex and Nora pull up to the arts and crafts table first, tossing tiny American flags and red and blue plastic necklaces to the campers there. Most of them are the younger girls from Amy’s cabin, and Nora stops to do a dance party with them before she and Alex zoom off again. Alex drives them down to the campfire, where Zahra, Rafael, and Shaan are already prepping for the barbeque dinner. Alex drives in circles around Zahra until she throws a hot dog bun at his head.

“Diaz, if you don’t move your ass in the next five seconds —” she threatens, and Alex just cranks up the volume to _Made in the USA_ and drives away, whooping loudly.

After a quick break for lunch, the campers gather in the large clearing for what the Fourth of July at Cannon Falls is really about: field day. Many of them are already showing excitement towards the aqua obstacle course, and others are pointing out the other activities planned: a tug of war near the beach, a relay race, a wheelbarrow race, a water balloon toss, and Alex’s personal favorite, the 100-yard dash, complete with the counselors crouching from the sidelines and spraying the kids with water guns. But before he can enjoy any of it, he has to find someone first.

“There you are,” he says when he finally stumbles across Henry. “Here, I got this for you. It’s fitting, don’t you think?” He plops a horrific flag-patterned fedora on top of Henry’s blond head.

“This feels like treason,” Henry says, deadpan. Alex laughs loudly. _Shake shake shake._

The campers are split into two different groups — Alex and Liam, Pez and Henry, and Nora and June’s cabins competing against each other, and the younger campers competing amongst themselves. Alex and Liam head over to their spots on the field, grabbing their Super Soakers and filling them up with icy water. Liam doesn’t stop grinning at him the entire time, and Alex is starting to get a little freaked out. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks.

Liam shrugs innocently. “You’re not that subtle,” he says in response. “I saw what you just did. You bought that hat just for him? When did you have the time to do that?”

“I might’ve snuck away during free time yesterday,” Alex grumbles. “Whatever. It’s not a big deal or anything, I mean. He’s British. It’s _funny.”_

“Yeah? Then why didn’t you get one for Pez, too?” Alex opens his mouth, but his mind is blank. “Exactly.”

“It’s funny,” Alex says again, but the excuse is even sounding feeble to him.

“Yeah, it’s funny, but it’s even funnier watching you pretend to not be crushing on him,” Liam shoots back. “Just make out with him already. We’re all waiting for it to happen.”

 _“We?”_ Alex repeats weakly. “I’m not — he doesn’t want to — wait, wait, wait; who’s _we?”_

“Camper,” Liam says simply, nodding towards a girl charging through the field. He aims the Super Soaker at her and she screams in delight, running faster. “I’m gonna get a different angle, ‘kay? You just stay here and think of a prank to pull off, because I know full well that you’ve been too busy flirting with Henry to come up with something. See ya.”

“Liam, wait —” Alex tries, but Liam just runs off, squirting the Super Soaker back at Alex. “Who’s _we?”_ he exclaims one more time, but no cigar.

He scans around the campsite — Rafael is urging his cabin on while they play a game of tug-of-war against Shaan’s kids; he could very well be a part of the _we_ that Liam was talking about. And didn’t Raf say just about the same thing as Liam? That it was clear to everyone that they were getting closer? Fuck, has he really been that obvious?

Or maybe he’s talking about June and Nora, who are over at the obstacle course. Liam is close enough with them, and he knows that June would never pass up an opportunity to embarrass Alex, and if June knows, then Nora knows. But that begs the question: knows what? That he and Henry have been talking? That’s hardly enough to be considered news — but the late-night texts, bringing coffee and playing ping pong at six in the morning, admiring how Henry looks bathed in the light from the sunset, confessions under the stars — yeah, now that Alex thinks about it, he realizes that might be considered more than simply talking.

His eyes find Henry in the sea of campers and counselors alike, who’s stationed at the water balloon toss, and — Alex’s heart flutters madly. Because Henry is still wearing the hat, the stupid, horrendous hat, and the sight should not make Alex feel as smitten as he does.

Fuck. He's in too deep.

If there’s one good thing to come out of his brief crisis, it’s that he finally comes up with a prank for Henry’s cabin. He admits that it’s kind of rushed together, but the kids seemed excited when he told them the plan, and at the end of the day, if the kids are happy, then he’s happy. It also might be a way to distract himself from these new… _feelings,_ per se, that have surfaced.

The whole camp is crowded together by the campfire as dusk starts to set in. The three grills are cooking up a storm, and Alex is immensely proud of the burgers he’s flipping, thank you very much. This moment, Fourth of July night at dinner, is one of his absolute favorites. There’s something so immensely special about the entire camp getting together to celebrate by the lake. It’s peaceful, as well. As Alex serves burgers to the campers and sips on a Mexican Coke, the sound of the waves lapping and Nora’s white people playlist softly playing in the distance, he feels right at home. That’s what Cannon Falls is, anyway — his second home.

Pez has taken over donning the flag-patterned fedora, claiming that it was an atrocity that Alex didn’t buy two pairs, and Alex flicks his bottle cap at him in response. The hat clashes terribly with his bubblegum pink hair but he refuses to take it off, and furthermore, talks for the rest of the evening in a truly appalling American accent, making his campers laugh so hard they nearly choke on their food.

They strike just before desserts are passed around. Alex and the oldest campers in his cabin sneak back down to the field, where the tub of water balloons is still thankfully full. Together, they lug the bin all the way back to the beach and crouch behind the benches in the very back, the rest of the camp too focused on the promise of desserts to pay attention to them. Alex lets Ryland throw the first balloon. He lobs it in the air, hitting Henry square in the back. Alex laughs loudly in the night air, and from there on, it’s all over.

What starts out as a harmless prank of throwing a few water balloons at Henry’s cabin turns into the most epic water balloon fight in Cannon Falls history. Desserts now forgotten, the campers rush to take part in the fight, water flying through the air and screams piercing the once-relaxing night. The older counselors are far too dry, Alex soon decides, and he squeezes a water balloon over Zahra’s head until it pops and rains down on her. He’s not surprised when she and Shaan team up later and dump the pitchers of water all over his head.

Somehow, Pez and Henry manage to get their hands on the Super Soakers. Henry immediately zeros in on Alex, as if he isn’t wet enough, until his own campers rush to his defense and pelt Henry with water balloons. June and Nora get chased down the dock by their campers until they’re forced to jump into the lake. They splash the lake water at the girls instead, drenching them all. Liam figures out how to use the paper plates as shields and soon enough, the entire camp is a mess of water, broken balloons, and disintegrating paper. It’s disgusting. Alex has never loved a night as much as this one.

“Okay!” Zahra exclaims at one point, her hair dripping from Alex’s attack earlier. “We can all thank Alex for this grand distraction, but we’re running a bit behind schedule now. Counselors, take your campers back to your cabins and dry off. We’re all going to meet at the hills in an hour for fireworks, and we’ll pass out desserts then. Does that sound good?” Whoops of approval sound from campers and counselors alike. “All right then. Break!”

An hour later, Alex finds himself sitting on a blanket with Liam and the rest of his cabin, happily finishing up a slice of apple pie. The sun is nearly set, and the anticipation for fireworks hangs heavy in the air. His campers are buzzing about the water balloon fight and field day and the mini field trip to go horseback riding on Tuesday. Alex indulges in the conversation until the night begins to set in and he sees Zahra, Amy, and Cash head down the hill, no doubt starting to set up the fireworks. Alex lets the kids pile their trash on top of his plate and heads over to the trash bins to throw it all away. He’s just about to walk back to his campers when he spots Henry and Pez sitting on a blanket a few feet behind their cabin, and well, he did make a promise.

“Alexander, babes!” Pez calls out as Alex walks over. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Lost a bet,” Alex grumbles. “Can I sit?”

“Ah, that’s right,” Henry laughs. He scooches over so Alex can sit next to him on the blanket. Under the dim light of the lantern placed at the corner of the blanket Alex can just make out their faces: Pez, with the (still damp) fedora on top of his head; Henry, his hair now dry but not styled like he usually has it, instead it falls into his eyes again. It makes Alex want to bury his hands in it and throw up at the same time.

“I believe you owe me a story?” Henry continues. He looks the most relaxed that Alex has ever seen him, and not just this summer. The entire time he’s known him. He wonders if it has something to do with all the time they’ve been spending together.

“Yes, yes, Henry mentioned something about utterly destroying you in ping pong. Go on, spare no details,” Pez chimes in.

“He didn’t _destroy_ me —”

“Alex, I beat you four to _eleven_ —”

“Okay, fine!” Alex gives in. The bottle is shaking faster and faster now; has been since the water balloon fight. He pushes it out of his mind, wills it to go away. “Picture this: twelve-year-old Alex, pissed off that Liam beat him in gaga yet again, and the taco night that they promised was made up of these pasty ass tortillas and the blandest ground beef you’ve ever tasted. Needless to say, I was _not_ having a good time. And then to top it all off, this bitchy kid named Hunter started running his mouth. I don’t even remember what he was going on about, something stupid like slushie prices being too high, so I told him to shut his face because his mom pays for all that shit anyway —”

Henry and Pez are shaking from silent laughter. Alex plows on. “Then he said that I was just being pissy because I lost at gaga — and he was completely right, but I wasn’t gonna admit that — so I said no, I’m being pissy because I have to listen to him run his stupid mouth for the rest of the summer, and he got mad and threw his bread roll at me. I was _not_ having that, so I walked around the table and dumped my chocolate milk over his head.”

Laughter bursts out from Henry and Pez’s mouths. “God, even as a twelve-year-old you never knew when to back off,” Henry muses, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “So that was it? You poured chocolate milk all over this poor boy and that’s when food fights became banned?”

“Oh, God no. He lunged at me, then Liam came to my rescue, and then the other kids caught on to what we were doing and assumed it was a food fight. It was glorious. There was lettuce and shredded cheese flying through the air; and it was well deserved, too, those were some shitty excuses for a taco. Anyway, yeah, a massive food fight broke out, and while that was all happening, Hunter and I were literally trying to punch each other to death. Cash was the only one who noticed. He hauled us down to Zahra’s office and she unleashed hell on us. Scariest moment of my life. Also the moment I knew I wanted to become a counselor. Zahra’s lecturing started to get less scary and more funny, and I just wanted to see how much more I could push her buttons.”

“I can’t believe this,” Pez sniggers.

“Believe it, Okonjo. You know that stain on the wall near the far-left window? That was me. I tried to shove his face in the taco meat but he kicked the plate out of my hand.”

This sends Henry and Pez into another fit of laughter. “Christ, that was — that was ten years ago,” Pez chokes out. “You mean to tell me that that stain has been there for ten years?”

“Oh, they’ve tried to get rid of it, but it won’t budge. Believe me. My punishment was cleaning the walls that night. That stain is gonna be there forever, it’s my legacy.”

“I thought the slushies were your legacy?” Henry manages, still snickering.

“That too. This whole camp is my legacy. There’s gonna be memories of me everywhere by the time I’m dead.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

One of the campers calls out for them, and Pez groans. “I’ll take care of it,” Pez says, standing up. “Probably complaining about wanting another ice lollie, the greedy things.”

Pez walks away, leaving Henry and Alex together on the blanket. Alone. Alex definitely doesn’t overthink their position.

Henry turns towards him then, his eyes shining. “That was quite a scene you pulled off earlier,” he tells him. “Especially getting the entire camp involved. You can tell how much everyone enjoyed it.”

“So did you, apparently. Got a face full of it.” Alex gestures to Henry’s bangs. “This is cute. What, are you too good to style your hair anymore?"

Henry shrugs. “Why waste time? We're retiring back to the cabins in less than an hour.” His lips curve into a smile. He inches closer. “Cute, huh?”

“Stupid, annoying, among other things,” Alex answers with a smirk. His fingers brush the soft strands covering Henry’s forehead. “I’ve got a whole list.”

“Oh, do you?” Is it just his imagination, or is Henry leaning into his touch? “Carry on, then.”

Alex snorts. “Disgustingly blond,” he says. “Like, who even has this natural color? And it’s not fair that it looks golden in the sunlight; makes you look like a goddamn angel sometimes. Stupid when you get sweaty, because your hair still looks fucking amazing, and I don’t understand how —”

“You already said that one,” Henry mutters, his blue gaze boring into him.

Alex blinks. “Oh yeah. Um.” His fingers run through the strands again, pushing it out of Henry’s eyes. “Soft,” he finally says, his voice quiet. “Really soft. Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. Frames your — frames your face well, too. Always notice your cheekbones, or… or your strong nose…” Henry stares at him, unblinking. Alex drops his hand. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Henry says back, his voice unexpectedly low and surprisingly (but at the same time, not at all) sexy. He tilts his head. “You think about my face, much? Because — because I think of yours as well.”

“Yeah,” Alex breathes. He can barely hear himself over the low buzz of cicadas and his own pounding heartbeat. “It's not... not fair that you look so good all the time…”

Henry’s eyes flicker very pointedly to his lips. Alex is leaning in before he even registers doing so.

And the first fireworks go off, and Henry’s lips meet his, and the cap on the shaking bottle finally gives way, and everything explodes all at once.

Henry’s lips are soft.

It’s the only thing he can think of as his mouth moves against his. The kiss is slow and sweet, as if they’re testing out the waters, acting like the other would break apart if they pushed too hard. Henry’s bottom lip slides between his own, and he tastes good, tastes like Coca-Cola and mint chapstick. And it's addictive, the way Henry kisses, so addictive already, and they've barely even started.

They don’t go very far when they break apart. Their foreheads rest against each other, their noses slide together. Alex can still feel the ghost of Henry’s lips on him. He swallows thickly. Because that — that was —

He wants more.

No sooner than the thought forms in his brain does Henry surge forward and kiss him again, his hand cupping the side of Alex’s face, pulling him as close to his body as he possibly can. The press of their mouths is harder this time, more desperate, more yearning, and Alex takes the opportunity to slip his tongue in Henry’s mouth. He slams his hand on top of his, nails digging into the skin, breath hitching when Henry kisses back with just as much fever.

They’re really going at it now, lips meeting in wet smacks that somehow ring louder than the booming fireworks. Alex tilts his head further, deepening the kiss even more, trying to get as much of Henry as he possibly can. His free hand slides through the short strands of Henry’s hair, _god, so fucking soft,_ and he grips the roots to try to still his shaking fingers. Shaking, are they really? How is this one kiss already affecting him this much?

“Alex,” Henry breathes out, so quiet that he can barely hear it, and he groans softly and pulls Henry even closer. Right. That’s how.

They gasp into each other’s mouths, desperate for air but too stubborn to pull away, Henry’s fingers pressing hard against his skin, Alex’s nails dragging down his scalp, and —

A particularly loud bang of fireworks jolts them apart. Henry is breathing heavily, blinking at him like he doesn’t know if what just happened actually happened, and Alex knows he mirrors him. He takes in the rest of his features: his parted lips, slightly swollen and a darker shade of pink from all the kissing; his hair, certain strands sticking out of place and Alex’s hand still tangled in his locks. He looks — well, Alex isn’t even sure how to describe the look on his face. Like he just made out with his sworn rival of four years and doesn’t know how to act. It’s how Alex probably looks, anyway.

“Um,” Henry says.

It hits Alex just then, the fact that _oh fuck, he just made out with his sworn rival of four years,_ and something inside him snaps. He pulls his hand from Henry’s hair, shies away from his touch. Henry’s hand drops limply to his side. “I should get back to my campers,” he manages. He’s surprised he can even speak normally.

“Okay,” Henry says back. He sounds much more put together than Alex does, but he can still see the disbelief in his eyes.

“Okay,” Alex repeats. “Uh… bye.”

Liam doesn’t say anything when he returns, but Alex still notices his eyes flickering back to him every so often. He tries to keep his face neutral, as if he didn’t leave to throw away a pile of trash and return having been kissed breathless by a handsome British co-worker. Fuck.

He barely pays attention to the fireworks show, doesn’t even bat an eye at the grand finale, stays silent on the walk back to the cabin. He says a silent prayer when they get back before Henry’s cabin arrives. He feels like a zombie when he goes to brush his teeth, when he warns the kids they have five more minutes until lights out, when he finally, _finally_ is able to crawl into his bunk and forget about the whole ordeal.

But. Then again, but.

In the dark, Alex traces his lips with his fingers, remembering the warm weight of Henry against him. How it felt better than anything else in the world, and how he desperately wants to feel it again, no matter how hard he’ll try to convince himself that he doesn’t.


	5. Falling Into Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halfway through already! I can't believe we've made it this far. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story, it means the absolute world to me.

Alex cannot stop thinking about that fucking kiss.

It’s not that he didn’t like it. Because he did. Very much. Maybe a bit too much.

No, the thing that continues to throw him off is the fact that it was _Henry_ whom he kissed. The same Henry that he could never figure out, that he could never understand why he was so uptight all the time. The same Henry that he swore he would show just what it was like being a counselor at Cannon Falls, and then that spun out into a long tradition of pranks and mischievous antics. And that in turn spun out to… this.

He’s still figuring out what “this” means, exactly.

What he already has figured out, however, are the facts. And the facts stand as follows: firstly, he kissed Henry. Or, Henry kissed him. Whoever kissed who first, he still doesn’t quite know, but that’s hardly what matters at this point. He and Henry kissed.

Secondly, he enjoyed the kiss. And he kind of wants to do it again.

Thirdly, he doesn’t know how Henry feels about all of this. And that’s important, because — because if Henry feels the same way, if he wants this just as much as Alex does, then — but if he _doesn’t_ —

He’s so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he barely registers any of the conversations at breakfast or sending off their campers to morning activities with the older counselors. He continues to stay in this trance-like state of mind as he and Liam exit the dining hall, nearly running into someone in the process.

“Shit, sorry,” Alex mumbles, looking up only to be met with a piercing blue gaze. Something in his brain short-circuits. “Henry.”

“Hello,” Henry says back, his expression unreadable. “Um, how — how are you?”

“Fine,” Alex rushes out. He suddenly feels very hot, like talking to Henry is something he’ll get in trouble for. Like it would be weird for someone to see them together. “And you?”

“Doing well,” Henry responds just as fast, avoiding his eyes, nodding too many times. “I was coming to find you, actually. June said you would be in here.”

“Yep. Breakfast, y’know?” he says, doing all in his power not to cringe at himself. “Most important, uh… most important meal of the day.”

God, they’re so awkward. They’ve never been awkward around each other, not even before this summer. Alex would light up with every prank of Henry’s, get an adrenaline rush with every smooth argument between them. They always fueled each other’s fires, never leaving a dull moment between them. It was so intoxicating.

“Right,” Henry responds, still not quite meeting his gaze. “Well, anyway, Zahra changed some of the scheduling so all the older campers are going horseback riding tomorrow. So we will be joining your cabin as well as June and Nora’s. Just thought you should know.”

“Yeah, I know. Um. Zahra sent it in the email.”

Henry pauses for a moment. Alex can almost see the gears turning in his brain. “The email. Right. Obviously.”

Alex scratches at the back of his neck. “Well, if that’s all you wanted to tell me —”

“Yes. That’s it.”

A sinking feeling immediately pools in his gut. “Oh. Okay.”

“Yep.”

The silence stretches on between them. Ales suddenly realizes that Liam is right at his side and has been for the entirety of the conversation. Jesus fuck. He’s never going to let him hear the end of this, is he?

He clears his throat. “We should get going. Cabin cleanup, you know, with the campers out of the way…”

“Right, of course.” Henry does an awkward side-shuffle to the dining hall doors. “Have fun with that.”

“You too,” Alex says lamely, actually squeezing his eyes shut in repulsion at this entire fucking conversation. How the hell did it come to this? Where was the passion that showed in each of their pranks? In that kiss last night?

“So,” Liam starts as they make their way back to their cabin, “you want to talk about it?”

Alex groans. “Are you even giving me a choice?”

“Nope,” Liam says, popping the _p_. “But I will wait until we get back to the cabin. Save you from any outside embarrassment.”

God, Alex really was the smartest fucking person alive when he found a best friend in Liam.

He collapses on his cot the moment the door to the cabin shuts behind them, pressing his face into the pillow. No sooner than his cheek touches the fabric does he feel Liam take a sharp swat at his ass. He yelps, head flying off the pillow.

“Nuh-uh,” Liam says, opening the closet in the corner and pulling out the bucket of cleaning supplies. “I’m not gonna let you sit there and bitch about your problems while I do all the cleaning. Get your ass up or I’m gonna make you scrub the windows.”

“Ugh, fine,” Alex grumbles. “Throw me the duster.”

He chews on his bottom lip as the silence stretches between them. He knows Liam isn’t letting him off that easily; he’s simply waiting for him to make the first move. Alex sighs. Might as well get this over with. “So I, uh… I kind of made out with Henry yesterday.”

Liam nods. “I figured something like that happened.” When Alex doesn’t say anything, he presses on. “And now you don’t know how to act?”

Alex huffs. “Yeah, pretty much. And it’s not like he’s exactly helping, either.”

“Okay, well, let’s just break it down a bit,” Liam says matter-of-factly, like discussing your best friend’s romantic troubles is something they do every other day. “Was it good?”

“Yes,” Alex says immediately.

“Okay." He pauses. "Was it like our first kiss?”

Alex drops his head into his hands. “Liam —”

 _“Alex,”_ Liam warns, “I keep telling you. I don’t care what happened. We were seventeen and drunk most of the time. Just answer the damn question.”

They _were_ drunk most of the time, if Alex remembers correctly. Which is harder than it should be, because that summer before his senior year of high school is still kind of a blur. That was the summer where he stayed at Liam’s house for two weeks after camp was let out. That was also the summer where Liam’s parents both worked late into the evening, and they managed to stumble across the liquor cabinet in the basement, and they took four shots each and ended up lip-locked on the couch.

It happened two more times, and Alex was always drunk and confused but Liam’s lips were rough on his and it felt so good, so different than kissing a girl but it lit that same fire inside of him, edging him on. And then he had Liam’s hard dick in his hand and he thought, _Yeah, this is nice,_ and jerked him off to his heart’s content. After it happened the third time, Alex managed to tear himself away and tell Liam that this was fun and all but he didn’t want to screw anything up with the guy he considered to be his best friend, and Liam simply shrugged and said that Alex wasn’t that attractive, anyway, earning him a well-deserved noogie afterward.

Still. Alex hurt Liam that day, as much as he used to try to convince himself that he didn’t. Liam doesn’t mind now, and he knows that, but he still hates thinking about it whenever Liam brings it up. He doesn’t like thinking about any pain he might have caused him.

“No, it was —” Alex stammers. “It wasn’t as messy. It wasn’t fast, either. It was — it was _nice,_ it was really fucking nice. Like everything made sense when I kissed him.”

“So the kiss was good, and on top of that, you’re already head over heels for the guy,” Liam snorts, moving to empty the trash cans. “What’s your problem here, exactly?”

“I don’t — I don’t know if he feels the same way.”

Liam throws his head back and laughs. Laughs! Alex stares at him in disbelief. “What?”

“I’m sorry, but did you see yourself earlier? Did you see _Henry?_ He’s so obviously just as shaken by this as you are. Which makes me think that you did something to throw him off, because he’s been flirting with you ever since you two fell in the lake.”

“Me?!” Alex yelps, springing to his feet. “I didn’t do anything that he didn’t do! We kissed once, and then we kissed again, and then — then —" The realization hits him like a truck. He smacks a hand to his forehead. "Oh, shit.”

“What the fuck did you do?”

“When we stopped, I kind of… well, the first thing I said was that I needed to get back to the campers. And then I left.”

This earns him a can of air freshener thrown at his face. “You are a grade-A dumbass, you know that, right? Why the hell would _that_ be your immediate reaction?”

“I don’t know!” Alex shouts. “I was freaking out! He’s been my rival for four years, literally my sworn enemy, and I never found him attractive until this summer! And then everything happened so fast, and then we were kissing, and I probably fucked everything up already.”

Liam snorts. “Okay, you’re dumb, but not that dumb. And yes, I will admit that you fucked up. But I don’t think you fucked _everything_ up. Just give him some time, okay? God knows you need it, too.”

“Time,” Alex repeats. He nods. “Okay. I can do that.”

Turns out, he cannot do that.

Henry avoids him for the rest of the day, not even so much as glancing in his direction. It’s infuriating, and Alex wants nothing more but to drag Henry away from the evening campfire and pin him to the wall of his cabin and kiss his filthy mouth again. But he remembers what Liam told him, about giving him time. Giving _himself_ time. He’s just not sure how much more time he can give.

“Time” stretches into the next day as well. It’s less awkward than before, but it weighs heavier on Alex’s shoulders, especially when they get all the middle schoolers cramped onto a bus to head to the nearby stables for horseback riding. Alex tries to concentrate on taking a head count instead of watching Henry stare attentively out the window, even though the bus is still stationary. His chest tightens every time he sneaks a glance at him.

It’s just the five of them looking after nearly fourty middle schoolers that afternoon — himself, June, Nora, Pez, and Henry (Liam, who is very allergic to horses, decided to pass on the trip). This isn’t new; they’ve had plenty of instances where the group of them are left in charge, and under normal circumstances, they usually get a pretty good gang going. And Alex can’t help but think if the Fourth of July didn’t happen the way it did, this little field trip today would have been one of the highlights of the summer.

Instead, he and Henry are sitting on opposite ends of the bus, not speaking to each other. Some field trip this is.

“All right, what’s got your dick in a knot?” Nora asks him ten minutes later, leaning over the seat of the bus. “And don’t fucking ignore me, because it’s obviously something. You’ve been chewing on your lip ever since we stepped on this bus.”

Alex rolls his eyes but stops biting down on his lip. “I’ll tell you two later,” he mumbles. “Don’t want the kids to overhear.”

And he will tell them later, plans to keep his word, because — well, he’s noticed Pez glancing his way more than usual, and he can only assume that Henry let Pez in on their kiss under the fireworks. He isn't mad about it, but it’s only fair that he tells someone about it as well, right? He’s already told Liam — but Liam pretty much knew about it from the start, so he decides that doesn’t count — it’s only fair that he gets to tell June and Nora. Yeah. He can convince himself that.

Henry and Pez are the ones leading the trail, so they take the kids to the stables to meet the horses and give them a lesson on basic riding etiquette while Alex, June, and Nora hang behind, finding a clump of shade underneath a large oak tree near the stables and plopping themselves under there. Alex can still hear Henry’s rounded posh voice at this distance, explaining how to properly mount a saddle. He pulls his legs to his chest and hides his face in his knees, trying to block out the sound. It’s too much for him to handle right now. All of it. It’s too much.

“Alejandro,” Nora drawls from next to him, “I’m sure whatever bullshit you pulled isn’t as bad as you think. Now just tell us what —”

“I kissed Henry,” Alex mumbles, his face still in his knees.

“You _what?!”_ June exclaims, practically jumping to her feet, while Nora snorts and says, “Finally.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Alex groans, snapping his head up to glare at Nora. “Liam basically knew before I told him, and now you’re acting like you expected this to happen? Did everyone know I was attracted to him before I did?”

“Pretty much, yep.”

“Well, that’s just —”

“Oh shut up, both of you!” June says, finally having calmed down enough to whisper-shout instead of full-on yelling. “What was it like? Did you like it? Wait, shit, did _he_ like it?”

“I don’t know!” Alex cries, exasperated, dropping his head on the tree. “Everything happened so fast. Like, I kissed him, he kissed me back, and then I kind of ran off, so that’s my fault. But everything else — I have no idea how he feels. I mean, I don’t even know if he’s into guys!”

“Oh my god, you’re so stupid,” Nora says through fits of laughter. “Seriously, Alex. Think about what you just said.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“You said you kissed him, then _he kissed back._ Obviously he’s into guys if he kissed back.”

Alex shifts. “Well, that could be —”

“Do you want him to be straight? To reject you? Is that why you’re so fucking slow?”

“Obviously I don't want that. But Liam said to give him some time, and it’s been an entire fucking day already and I’m about to snap. I would just like to know if he didn’t hate it, okay? Is that too much to ask?”

“No, of course not,” June says, quieter this time. “But I agree with Liam. Not just for Henry; I think you need some time, too. I mean, when did you even start to like him? You were pelting water balloons at him just the other day.”

“I think… I think I always had some attraction to him from the start,” Alex sighs. “Maybe that was what led me to prank him in the first place. But consciously? Probably since that hike we led a week ago. He’s actually pretty fun.”

“We always knew he was fun,” June says, a teasing edge to her tone now. “You just refused to look past the rivalry y’all started.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. And that’s my fault, too.” Alex rubs the side of his face with his hand. “Fuck. So what do I do? Wait?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” June says with a sigh. “Not long, just a day or two more. Give both your minds some time to settle. Then if he doesn’t approach you, you certainly have the right to.”

“Or you could get your ass over there and kiss him right now,” Nora chimes in.

“Nora, you’re not helping,” June says, but she’s snickering as she says so.

It’s not the worst idea she’s ever had, Alex thinks, and he hates himself for actually considering following through with her suggestion for even a second. Time. Time, time, time. The one thing he’s not very good at giving.

He’s distracted enough, at least. Further down the stables there’s an old gaga pit next to the edge of the woods. June finds a kickball in a nearby shed and they strike up a three-person game while they wait for the campers. The first half run up to the gaga pit fifteen minutes later while the rest of them prepare for a ride down the trail, instantly hopping into the pit to join the game. Alex soon gets a small tournament in the works, enjoying the way the kids shriek in delight as he, Nora, and June team up to take them all down. But once the first group gets back from the riding trail and the kids switch stations, he makes the mistake of looking up.

Henry is perched on top of his horse, his fucking pure-white horse, his helmet tucked under on arm and his head tilted back as he takes a drink from a bottle of water. And his hair should be messed up from being under a helmet for that long, but of course it isn’t, instead it looks perfect and as soft as ever. Alex knows firsthand how soft it feels. He can’t tear his eyes away.

Henry dismounts gracefully, his long legs stretching from the stirrup to the ground — _fuck, his legs,_ Alex thinks in a bizarre hysteria — as he gently guides the horse by the reins so the kids can pet her mane. Alex should _not_ be as aroused as he is by the flex of Henry’s thighs when he gets back on the horse, the way his nimble fingers flick at the reins when the group starts moving. But he is. Goddammit, he so is. It’s not fair, the things Henry does to him.

He gets out quickly that round. The kids cheer at his quick demise. Alex just focuses on trying his best.

Later that day, Alex finds himself sitting in the grass on the edge of the falls, the same spot where he and Henry talked that night of the hike. The sun is just starting to set, basking the clearing in a warm glow. The water ripples soothingly some feet below him; the crashing of the waterfall sounding like music to his ears. He closes his eyes.

He wants Henry. He knows that for sure now. Kissing him and then not speaking to him for an entire day just about confirmed that for him.

He still isn’t sure if Henry wants him just as much. It’s starting to piss him off, if he’s being honest. Because he’s given him time, just as Liam said, just as June said, and Henry is still giving him as much attention as he would give a piece of gum he pulled off his shoe. If only Alex could pull him away for five, ten minutes, if only he could just _talk_ to him, maybe get an idea of what exactly Henry is fucking thinking, he could find some way to quiet the storm in his brain. But that’s proving to be nearly impossible with the amount of work Zahra has put him up to — with the combination of afternoon activities, cleanup from the Fourth, and field trips, he’s barely had a moment where he isn’t surrounded by campers.

As if on cue, the rustling of leaves meets his ears, and he snaps his eyes open. Henry walks into the clearing, stopping immediately when he catches sight of Alex. Alex freezes up just the same.

They stare at each other for a moment until Henry breaks the silence. “Aren’t — aren’t you supposed to be at campfire?”

“Aren’t you?” Alex shoots back.

Henry opens his mouth to respond, then shuts it. Fuck, Alex can’t handle another second like this. He needs to talk with Henry.

“I told Liam that Zahra was sending me out to pick up extra art supplies,” he mumbles. “I just needed some time to think.”

Henry takes a few tentative steps closer. “Me as well,” he says carefully. The hesitation is evident in his voice. Alex hates it.

Alex sighs. “Come on,” he says. “Sit.” Henry doesn’t move, and Alex is just about at his end’s meet. “Look man, we’re gonna have to talk about this eventually. I’m here, you’re here… why not do it now?”

Henry hesitates again, but eventually walks over to Alex and sits down next to him. There’s a much more considerable distance between them than there was on the Fourth, Alex notices.

"I hope the kids enjoyed the prank," Henry says quietly. "I figured... well, I didn't want them to think that there was anything wrong. And now I know firsthand just how much you enjoy the retaliation."

It's true, Alex _does_ love seeing what pranks Henry pulls after him. The one in response to the water balloon fight was no exception — Henry and Pez managed to trap a squirrel inside his cabin on Monday. It was fucking insane, trying to get it out, and the kids loved it, and Liam loved it, and Alex would have loved it just as much if he wasn't so scared what the previous night's events meant for them. He was surprised that Henry even pulled something on them. He was so sure that Henry would freeze up and avoid him at all costs, and aside from the prank, he was right, but now it makes sense why he did something. Don't make the campers worry. Keep up the charade that everything was perfectly fine between them.

"Yeah, they had fun with it," he mutters. "Thanks."

It falls silent between them once again. Henry looks like he would rather be anywhere in the world but here, and Alex is going to explode if this keeps on for any longer. “So,” he starts.

“So,” Henry repeats.

“We kissed.”

Henry nods, staring out into the water. “We did.”

Alex wants to pull his own hair out. “That’s all you have to say?”

Henry gives a weak laugh. “No. No, just —” He fumbles over his words, fingers gripping at his own arms where he has them crossed over his chest. “If I talk, will you listen? Can I — can I speak and get everything out, and you won’t interrupt me?”

“I —” Alex pauses. “Sure.”

“Okay.” Henry still isn’t looking at him, but at least he’s talking. At this point, he’ll take whatever he can get. “Okay. So.” He exhales heavily through his nose, closing his eyes. “You know how I practically fled the country after my dad passed. I thought it would help with my grief, especially being in a place that he spent so much of his time in, but I still felt as lost as I did back at home. Everything that year was a bit of a blur, I can barely remember anything from then… and then we came here.

“It was — it was nerve-racking. Truly. A new environment, new people, a new _country_ , for Christ’s sake, and you were right. I did treat it like a corporate job. That was how I was taught to tackle any new situation, anyway; headstrong and logical. Obviously that’s not the right way to go about being a camp counselor. I now know that. But not back then.” Henry opens his eyes. “And then you happened.”

He stays quiet for a moment, and Alex wants to ask him what _exactly_ he fucking means, but he promised to stay quiet, and he plans to keep that promise. He sits there, twisting his finger around a blade of grass, doing anything he can to keep his mouth shut. Because Henry deserves this, at least.

“The day you first pranked me, I felt a weight lift off my chest. It was so refreshing; I had never felt anything like it. I saw you for the first time that day. I remember walking out of the cabin, watching you laugh, so carefree and at ease, and I thought you were beautiful.” He pauses, then says in a softer voice, “You still are.”

Alex forgets how to breathe.

“I couldn’t handle that. Not after my dad, not after turning my back on my family. There was no possible way I could survive if I showed you just how much your laugh tore me apart and your smile sewed me back together. So I turned around, went back inside, and told myself to forget about it. Told myself it was the only way that I could get through this summer.

“But I couldn’t get you out of my mind all bloody day, and that night, I had an epiphany. I had to see you light up as much as you did again, because it was the first time in over a year that made me feel something other than hurt. So I retaliated. As you know, that backfired in a way I clearly did not see coming. But the rhythm we fell into after that worked so well; it felt so natural that it was good enough for me. As long as I got to see you come alive with every barmy prank you pulled, it was good enough. And it was so damn _infuriating_ just how much you affected me.

“Going into this summer, I didn’t think anything different. I fully expected the pranks to continue and I fully expected to grasp on to every intoxicating smile of yours and hold it to my heart for only myself to know about. But then we were thrust together; unwillingly, I will admit, and I knew this… this _crush,_ you could say, wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon. It all built up inside me; the last three years here, falling into the lake, conversing under the stars, late-night texts, and I couldn’t hold it back any longer. When we kissed… everything clicked into place. At least for me, it did.” Henry smiles sadly to himself. “I understand that I crossed a line. After you ran off, it actually hit me what I just did. I felt terrible… and then Pez came back, and he seemed to know exactly what had happened just by looking at me, and I knew that I had just fucked over whatever relationship we might have had. And for that, I’m truly sorry.”

Alex’s mind is spinning. “The — the whole time?” he manages.

Henry gives a nod, his eyes glassy.

“Fuck,” Alex laughs. The whole time — Henry even said it himself; he’s been _crushing_ on Alex the whole goddamn time. All those pranks, all those arguments, the long glances, the talks at sunset, the fireworks that exploded not just in the sky that night, but in Alex’s mind when his lips met Henry’s for the first time — none of that was in his head. It all meant something. To Henry. To _Alex_. 

Before he knows it, he’s moved as close as he possibly can to Henry and propped himself on his knees, grabbing a fistful of Henry’s shirt and leaning in. Henry meets his eyes for the first time in two days — wide blue eyes, confusion evident in them, but something else as well, something like hope, maybe even yearning — and he instinctively leans away. “What are you —”

 _“Please,”_ Alex rushes out, “just shut up.” And he crushes his mouth onto his.

Henry’s mouth drops open, probably in surprise, but Alex isn’t having any of this. He kisses him harder, and soon enough Henry responds with just as much vigor, pushing both hands into his hair and pulling him closer. Alex groans, using his free hand to cup the side of Henry’s face, skimming his fingers along his jaw, his brow, his cheekbone. Their tongues meet, wet and hot. It’s the most intense thing Alex has ever felt.

They break apart for air, panting into each other’s mouths. Alex nips at Henry’s bottom lip, Henry nudges his nose with his. They want each other so badly, it’s quite obvious now. But just to make sure — just to clear up any last traces of confusion —

“I like you too,” he mutters. “For a while now, actually. I don’t think I realized until the lake incident, and even then I wasn’t quite sure what I was feeling. But I’m sure now, and — and I want this. Want you. God, Henry,” he laughs, his fingers tightening in Henry’s shirt. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that fucking kiss. No one has ever kissed me like that before, and I really, _really,_ want it to happen again. So if you want to — because I want to, I really fucking want to — we could. We could sneak around, keep this up —”

Instead of answering, Henry launches forward and kisses him again, moving so fast that Alex doesn’t realize he’s flat on his back on the grass until Henry’s climbing on top of him, his knees pressed against either side of his thighs, and Alex moans out loud without meaning to. Henry sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. His hands are still in his hair, not tugging but simply carding his fingers through his curls, touching, nothing more. Alex’s focus jumps from each place their bodies touch — his hands in his hair, their mouths connected, his hips on top of his. He shifts, causing them both to gasp into the heavy evening air. Henry breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against Alex’s.

“Can I?” he asks, his voice low, much lower than usual, and it hits Alex right in the gut.

“God, _please,”_ he says back, pulling him down into another all-consuming kiss.

Their tongues meet again as Henry’s hands travel downward, teasing brushes against his collarbone, his chest, his abdomen. They finally stop at his hips, exactly where Alex wants them, and Henry gives them a quick squeeze before he pops the button of his shorts open. Alex’s breathing is getting heavy now. But Henry hasn’t even touched him yet, not properly, anyway, and it doesn’t make sense how he’s so turned on already. Then Henry drags the zipper down, lifts Alex’s hips up to shove his shorts down to his knees, and stops. He pulls back, gaze dropping to the swell in Alex’s boxers. His hand ghosts over the bulge, making Alex hiss with frustrated arousal. The sound hits Henry’s ears as well. He snaps his eyes back to Alex, his gaze dark, and quickly slides off Alex’s hips to settle in between his thighs instead. He ducks down, pressing a hot kiss to Alex’s cock over the fabric. Alex shoots his hand down to grab at Henry’s hair — soft, so fucking soft — and then Henry’s hands are curling at the waistband of his boxers, pushing them down alongside his shorts, moaning when his cock springs free, half-hard and already curling towards his stomach.

“Henry, you motherfucker,” Alex pants when Henry wraps a hand around him and begins jerking him off, his hand moving achingly slow. His other hand curls around his hip, nails digging into the skin. Alex bites his lip and thrusts into Henry’s hand. “You’re such a goddamn tease, you know that? Fuck, just get on with it, Henry, please —”

“And you told me to shut up,” Henry mutters lowly. He pulls his hand away, making Alex whine in protest. The noise quickly dies in his throat, however, when Henry shuffles backwards and lowers his head so his mouth is level with Alex’s cock. His hot breath ghosts over his balls and Alex practically trembles from the sensation. Then Henry is wrapping a hand around the base of his cock and mouthing at the tip, taking more and more of him into his mouth.

Alex moans, his back arching with every inch that disappears into Henry’s warm mouth. He stops halfway, focusing on breathing through his nose, and then he closes his eyes and sucks. Alex drops his mouth open. It’s so, so good, Henry’s tongue curling along the underside of his cock, his hand stroking what he can’t fit in his mouth. Alex begins to feel a burning sensation in his gut, a warning of what’s yet to come.

Henry pulls back until just the head of his cock is between his lips. He swirls his tongue around the tip and sucks again. Alex’s head falls back onto the hard ground.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Alex pants, so fucking aroused that he isn’t even sure if what he’s saying is actually coming out of his mouth, but Henry is taking him deeper again, not stopping until his lips meet his fist, and none of that matters anymore. Alex curls his fingers tighter into Henry’s hair and brings his other hand to his mouth, biting down on his skin in an attempt to muffle his noises. His hips involuntarily thrust up into the warm invite of Henry’s mouth.

Henry moans around his length, which sends vibrations all throughout Alex’s body. He shivers. Henry pulls off again, panting. His lips are a deep shade of pink, his eyes dark and hungry. It’s so fucking erotic that Alex can’t stand it.

He presses his lips to his cockhead, licking at the slit, making Alex jerk and moan. “You’re leaking,” he says, his voice rough. Alex peers down, because — yeah, he’s leaking, beads of precome rolling down his length. Henry groans and kisses the tip of his cock. “Fuck, that’s so hot. You’re so hot.”

Alex doesn’t get to answer, because Henry places both hands on his hips and swallows him down, not stopping until his nose presses into the dark curls of Alex’s pubic hair. An embarrassing whine rips itself from Alex’s throat, but Henry doesn’t seem to care. Instead he revels in it, groaning as the tip of Alex’s cock hits the back of his throat. He starts to bob up and down his length, sucking and licking and enveloping more of him into the warm wetness, and Alex is going to come in the next five seconds if he doesn’t stop.

“Henry,” he gasps. He tugs at his hair, a silent warning. Henry doesn’t let up. “Fuck, Henry, gonna come, I’m gonna come.”

Henry pulls back at that, lapping hungrily at the tip. He blinks his eyes open, his gaze boring into Alex’s. _Do it,_ his eyes read.

 _“Fuck,”_ Alex groans, throwing his head back as his orgasm hits him harder than it ever has before. He can feel Henry’s tongue around him, greedily swallowing down his come, and it’s so fucking hot that Alex’s eyes actually roll back into his head.

He feels fucking spent when he’s done, his legs weak, his chest heaving. And only after this? After one blowjob? What the hell is this guy doing to him?

Henry kisses the tip of his cock once more before pulling off, helping Alex slide his underwear and shorts back on. He tucks him back in, zips up his shorts — and then Alex feels it, the hard press of Henry’s cock against his thigh, and fuck, he’s just as turned on by this as Alex is, hard just from having his cock in his mouth and his hands in his hair.

With a newfound strength, Alex pushes himself into a sitting position and curls a hand around Henry’s neck, yanking him back down for a kiss. It’s open-mouthed and messy, and Alex can taste himself on Henry’s tongue, bitter and obscene, and it only makes him kiss him harder.

“My turn,” he says in between kisses, pushing Henry onto his back and spreading his legs. He needs to get his mouth around him, just as Henry did to him, needs to make Henry feel as good as he made him feel. His turn, his fucking turn.

He gets Henry’s shorts and briefs to his mid-thigh, leaving wet kisses along his hips, the dip of his waist, the sliver of skin just above his pubic hair. He moves his hands to grip at his thighs, those _goddamn_ thighs, the same ones that flexed every time he mounted and dismounted the horse, the same ones that bracketed his hips when Henry pinned him down and sprayed him with silly string. They’re strong and muscular under his palms, and Henry shivers with each caress.

“Please,” he says breathlessly when Alex moves his mouth from one hipbone to the other, purposely ignoring his hard cock. “I need you to touch me.”

Fuck, if Alex didn’t need to touch him just as badly. He wraps his hand around his length, stroking him from base to tip, catching the precome forming at the tip with his thumb and spreading it around the head of his cock. Henry’s breaths are faster now, almost frantic. Alex glances up at him. He has one hand in his hair, gripping his own roots tightly, his bottom lip fit snugly between his teeth. He looks so far gone already. Alex’s head spins.

He takes the head of his cock into his mouth cautiously, causing a moan to slip from Henry’s lips. It’s not like he hasn’t done this before, but it has been a while since he’s had a dick in his mouth. The last time was probably with College Boyfriend Derek, and Henry is even a couple inches bigger than he was, at least. He bobs his head up and down slowly, getting used to the feel of Henry’s cock dragging against his tongue. It feels good, a comfortable weight in his mouth, and Henry is clearly getting off from it as well, if his mannerisms are anything to go by. His breath hitches with every flick of Alex’s tongue, his thighs tremble with every press of Alex’s fingers. And when Alex pulls off completely, he even groans in protest, his hand flying out to tangle itself in Alex’s curls, as if he wants to keep Alex down there until he’s finished doing what he started. The realization makes Alex go a little cross-eyed.

He presses wet kisses to Henry’s shaft instead, nosing at the dark blond curls framing his cock. He has a musky scent to him, making Alex groan and move to mouth at his balls. He kisses the skin there, bares his teeth at the point where his thigh meets his groin. Henry moans. Alex licks over the fresh mark and tells himself to man the fuck up, because even though he and Henry have admittedly been getting closer to each other this summer, there’s still a tiny part of him that focuses on that competitive edge between them, and well. Henry was able to deepthroat him. What does that say about him if he can’t do the same?

With no warning, he moves back over Henry’s cock and swallows him down. Henry gasps, in surprise at first, surely, and then arousal, and it turns into the most guttural groan Alex has ever heard. He holds back his own whimpers, relaxes his throat, and hallows his cheeks as he begins to blow him. He bobs his head, desperate to bring Henry to his orgasm, and clearly it’s working, because soon enough Henry is babbling, “Not gonna last, not gonna last,” and Alex decides right then and there that he’s going to give Henry the best blowjob of his fucking life. He sucks harder, cups his balls with his hand, pulling on them the way he loves being touched. Henry’s hips are doing short little thrusts into his mouth by now; Alex can tell he’s getting close. He blinks open his eyes and looks up at Henry. Their eyes meet, and Alex swallows around his length.

“Jesus _fucking_ Christ,” Henry rushes out before he comes in Alex’s mouth. Alex pulls back so just the head of his cock rests on his tongue, swallowing down Henry’s come as it spurts in his mouth. His taste consumes every inch of him, stretching from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, and nothing has felt any better. He keeps sucking and Henry jerks, his body oversensitive and overworked. A faint laugh sounds from his lips.

Alex pulls off eventually, Henry’s cock slipping out of his mouth. He runs his tongue over his teeth, his lips, the inside of his mouth, the taste of Henry all-consuming. It’s a bitter taste, but good. It’s good. They’re good.

Henry finds his voice a lot sooner than Alex does. “Where…” he starts, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. “Where on earth did you learn how to do that?”

Alex snorts. “Don't act like you didn't get it on in college, too,” he says, ignoring the way his voice still shakes. “Bisexuality, y’know? Really gives you the best of perspectives.”

“Huh,” Henry says flatly. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well that’s fucking stupid, it’s basically in the name —”

“I know what bisexuality is, you arse. I didn’t know you were bi.”

“Oh.” They’re hurling insults at each other, that isn’t new, but the overall tone is. It’s much lighter than before, more casual. Teasing. Flirting? Whatever it is, Alex likes it. “Well… surprise.”

Henry laughs at that. “Quite. In one of the best ways possible, as well.”

“And you?” Alex can’t help but ask.

“Gay.” Henry’s eyes flicker to his hips. “Very, very gay.”

He lifts his hips up, shimmying back into his clothes, but doesn’t get up off the ground. Alex figures, well, he’s got nothing left to lose; he’s just had the guy’s dick in his mouth, for Christ’s sake, so he rolls on the ground next to him. Their shoulders brush. Alex doesn’t miss the electricity that explodes between them at the contact. Still. Even after they’ve done all this, he’s getting butterflies.

“Y’know, your dad’s James Bond movies were a major factor in my sexual awakening,” Alex says to break the silence.

_“Stop it.”_

“I’m not kidding.”

“I didn’t say you were, but Christ, please tell me you didn’t actually mention my father after giving me a blowjob that I still haven’t quite recovered from.” But he’s laughing, his shoulders shaking as he speaks. It makes Alex start to snicker next to him. “You are the worst.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that,” Alex says, still grinning. He turns his face towards Henry, who’s still staring up at the sky. “Hey. I meant what I said earlier.”

Henry’s eyes meet his, and his gaze is warmer now, softer. “And what’s that?”

“That I wanted to keep this up.” He brushes Henry’s cheek with his knuckle. “Because I do. I really like you, I mean. A lot. So if you want to keep what we have here…”

“Casual sex?” Henry clarifies.

“As much as you can get at a fucking summer camp.” That earns him a laugh.

“Hmm, okay.” The corner of his mouth twitches up in a teasing manner. “I should warn you, Pez won’t be happy about this. He was extremely upset when you didn’t buy him a matching fedora; now how will he react when he finds out I’ve got you all to myself —”

“Oh, fuck off,” Alex laughs. He leans over to kiss him again, messy and hard, a kind of kiss that only casual lovers would share, and when Henry cups his face to kiss him back, it’s as if everything finally slots into place.


	6. Silver Foil and Silver Linings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to believe we're reaching the end already. Enjoy today's chapter y'all!!

“All right, I’ll bite.” Nora tosses a five dollar bill onto the counter. “Five bucks for little Alex.”

“Nora!” Alex exclaims. “You’re supposed to be on my side!"

“Yeah, but you’re, like, old now. You were thirteen when you got that record, and you’re what, eleven?” The other Alex nods, beaming at the two of them. “The kid runs on pure adrenaline anyway, Alejandro. Imagine what he can do with a dozen slushies.”

“Yeah, but in an hour?” Alex scoffs. “Absolutely not. Look at him, he’s _tiny.”_ He shoots a look at the overexcited camper. “No offense, kid.”

“It’s okay!” The other Alex says brightly. “But I’m still gonna beat you.”

Alex and Nora are working the canteen during free time together for the first time this summer, and it looks as though the other Alex has been waiting all summer for this moment to happen, because the moment they opened the canteen he ran up to the counter, pointed at the picture of thirteen-year-old Alex surrounded by a dozen empty slushie containers, and proudly ordered thirteen slushies.

Now, Alex is pretty proud of that record. Twelve slushies in under an hour; it’s not something anyone can waltz in and just do. And now his own camper, his miniature partner in crime, claims that he can do just that. If he’s going to go down like this, he’s going to go down protecting his legacy.

And then the kid bet him a dollar that he could beat his record. By then, other campers from his cabin had gathered around, having overheard the other Alex’s plight. Alex wasn’t going to let him one-up him in front of all his campers, so he threw in his own dollar. Soon enough, the campers were taking their own sides, throwing in their own pocket money, and then Nora joined in, and they’ve already got the slushie machines whirring, ready to deliver cup after cup to the kid.

“All right, fine,” he finally gives in. “Go set up camp at that table over there. I’ll even be your delivery boy.”

Twenty minutes later and three slushies down, it seems as though the entirety of his cabin knows about the other Alex’s goal to beat the slushie record. The boys crowd around him, some of them from Henry and Pez’s cabin, Alex notes, and even a few from June and Nora’s. The other Alex already had to pause once from a brain freeze, but otherwise, he’s doing a lot better than Alex expected. He’s not quite on track to exceed twelve slushies, but the kid is nothing but determined, and Alex isn’t ruling out the possibility of losing quite yet.

“Hey,” a voice says to his left.

He turns his head. “Hey.” He breaks into a grin at the sight of Henry. He’s scheduled as one of the lifeguards today, and Alex’s eyes roam down his body. He looks fucking good in those red swim trunks and white tank top, his sunkissed shoulders exposed, slightly freckled. Alex's heart skips a beat when he flashes him a smile. “Couldn’t stay away from me, huh?”

Henry snorts. “You wish. I’m on a snack run for Rafael and I. But if… if we had to get the Skittles out of the back room, per se… well, I wouldn’t mind.”

He’s flirting. The campers aren’t close enough to overhear, and Henry is talking in an undertone anyway, but he’s flirting. It makes something flip in Alex’s stomach.

“Not that I don’t want to,” he starts, and oh God, he’s flirting back, isn’t he? And Nora is right there, too. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, they’re so obvious. “Because I do. But. Uh, we’re kind of in a competition right now.” He nods towards the crowd surrounding the other Alex.

Henry seems to notice them for the first time. “What are they up to?”

“The kid’s trying to break my slushie record,” Alex supplies. “He’s on his fourth one now.”

“Oh, _excellent.”_ Henry says. “Anything that’ll deflate your big head.”

Alex smacks his arm. “All right, Wales. Just for that, I’m sending you back without any Skittles. Feel Luna’s wrath, for once.”

“Noooo,” Henry laughs, smiling brightly. His grin is contagious; Alex can’t help but smile back. “Don’t subject me to that. I’ll do anything for those Skittles.”

Alex leans over the counter, resting his chin on his hand. “Anything?”

Henry blinks. Cocks his head to the side. “How much time have you got?" he says in an undertone.

“Alex!” Oliver calls out, making him jump and snap out of his gaze. “We need another slushie!”

“One sec,” Alex mutters to Henry. Nora passes him a blue one from where she is at the machine and Alex hops over the counter, setting the treat down in front of the other Alex. He checks the timer on his phone. “Not bad, Mini Me. But you gotta get going, you only have thirty-three minutes left.”

“I know, I know!” the other Alex exclaims, immediately grabbing the straw and slurping it down.

“Alex,” Henry says when Alex walks back to him, hoisting himself back on the counter. He points at the small wad of cash piled next to him. “What’s this?”

“Oh. We, uh… we might have made a few bets.”

“You are _gambling_ with the children.”

“It’s not gambling!” Alex yelps. “It’s, um… a friendly wager?”

“I’m fairly certain that’s illegal.”

“Don’t blame me, Nora put in some cash, too.”

“Oh, yeah, throw me under the bus,” Nora grouses, sipping at her own slushie. “Why don’t you call down Zahra while you’re at it?”

“Haha, very funny,” Alex says, deadpan. “Fine, I’ll give the money back when I win. But I’m keeping Nora’s. Happy?”

Henry cocks his head to the side, the corners of his mouth twitching up in a teasing manner. “Honestly, I don’t really care. I’m just here to give you a hard time.”

Alex glowers at him. He reaches behind the counter and grabs a bag of Skittles, tossing them at Henry. “Nice of you to visit, Wales. Here’s your damn Skittles, now begone. Get your negative energy out of this canteen, you're infecting the slushies with bad voodoo.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with June,” Nora mutters, crunching on ice.

“You literally live with her.”

“I actually should get going, my break is about to end, anyway,” Henry says. He steps closer to Alex. “Oh, I almost forgot. One of your campers’ bags accidentally wound up in my cabin from horseback riding. Whenever you get a break, you could come down to the lake and I’ll pass it on?”

“What?” Alex frowns. “None of my campers’ bags are missing —”

“No, this one is definitely yours,” Henry says quickly. “I’m sure of it. Just let me know when you’re on a break.”

“I don’t think —” Alex stops. Henry is looking at him, his eyes wide and expectant. Something in his mind finally clicks. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I remember now.”

“Lovely.” Henry starts to walk away. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Yeah,” Alex says back, still catching up with the implications behind Henry’s words. “I’ll text you.”

The other Alex finishes the fifth slushie with surprising speed. Alex slides another one his way. Twenty-nine minutes to go.

“It’s almost painful to watch you sometimes,” Nora mutters to him once he’s back behind the counter.

Alex feels his face flush red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please. He totally dicked you down, right?”

 _“Nora!”_ Alex whisper-shouts, slapping hand over her mouth. She licks his palm and he immediately draws it back. “You’re disgusting. And you can’t — you can’t just say stuff like that.”

“But I’m not wrong.”

Alex pauses. “We talked the other day,” he says carefully, “among other things.”

“Gross,” Nora says. “But hey, I’m glad you got past your quarter-life crisis. I told you he was into you, now look at him; he’s coming over on his break just to bother you. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

Alex nearly chokes on his own spit. “It’s nothing like that,” he mumbles. “We’re just messing around. Y’know. Having fun.”

Nora raises her eyebrows, bringing the slushie straw to her lips again. “Uh-huh. Sure.”

The other Alex makes it to twelve slushies in the hour, not breaking Alex’s record but tying it. This still earns him whoops of praise and slaps on the back from the campers gathered around him. The kid looks the happiest Alex has seen him all summer, even if he’s already looking a bit green. But puking is half the fun of it.

He snaps a picture of him and all the slushie containers and tacks it up next to his own photo. Nine years apart, but the same smiling boys, the same pile of slushies surrounding them. Alex loves it.

“We’re gonna rule this camp one day, Mini Me,” he tells him. “We’ll be the Alex monarchy. You can be my second in command.”

The other Alex nods eagerly. “We’ll ban Liam from playing gaga and prank Henry’s cabin every day.”

God, Alex loves this kid.

“You bet we will. Now take it easy today. You’ve earned those free slushies, but I’m putting you on hold for the rest of the day. Twelve slushies in an hour really messes with your body. And if you’re gonna puke, do it on Liam’s bed. Tell him it’s a sentimental gift from me.”

**Alex  
** i’m walking down to the lake  
where are you?

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🌟🐴🇬🇧  
** Just managed to get away.  
Meet at the campfire?

 **Alex  
**sure

“All right, what’s got you so wound up that you had to drag me away from my diligent work?” Alex asks when Henry is in earshot, crossing his arms and grinning madly at him.

“Oh, hush. You were literally taking money from children. I hardly think that counts as diligent.” Henry jerks his head. “Follow me.”

“I gave it back!” Alex exclaims. “You’re just jealous because I’m the favorite counselor.”

“No, I’m jealous because you spent your time supplying an eleven-year-old with more sugar that meets the eye rather than sneak off with me,” Henry says blatantly, and the casual confession throws Alex off a bit. “But I think we still have fifteen minutes before we’re expected back at our respected positions, don’t you think?”

They stop, and Alex finally realizes where they are: the lake shed. He snorts, slightly amused that Henry’s desperate enough to get it on in a _shed_ of all places — but then Henry grabs his wrist and tugs him to the door, fishing a key out of his pocket and jamming it into the padlock, and suddenly it isn’t funny anymore; suddenly Alex wants this more than he’s ever wanted anything before.

Henry manages to get the door open, and after a quick glance around to make sure no one’s spotted them (thank God for tall Cannon Falls trees, Alex thinks), Henry is pulling him inside and slamming the door behind them, and then his lips are on him again, finally, _finally._

They bang against a wall. Alex groans as Henry sucks his tongue into his mouth. “Someone’s eager,” he manages to say, chasing Henry’s lips as he presses kisses to his jaw, his cheek, his chin.

Henry moans in agreement, nipping at the spot behind his ear. “I haven’t had my mouth on you in two bloody days,” he breathes out, already sinking to his knees. He pulls down Alex’s shorts and boxers in one hard tug. “So forgive me if I’m a bit eager.”

“Fuck, you’re forgiven,” Alex pants as Henry takes him into his mouth in one go.

Henry is right, it has been too long. It’s been two days since they agreed on casual sex, and since then, they haven’t been able to have much of it. Fleeting kisses here and there, over-the-clothes groping, but nothing like this, nothing long and drawn out, where they’re able to take their time and fully worship each other’s bodies. Even now, they still don’t have that. It’s better than nothing, Alex decides, curling his hand in Henry’s soft hair. At least they have this.

It’s not fair how quickly he gets hard for Henry, how soon he can feel himself coming to the edge, how Henry actually pulls off the moment he’s about to climax. Alex whines desperately. He tries to tug Henry back to his dick with a pull of his hair, but Henry stays put, a smug little smile on his face. His lips are shiny and swollen already — blowjob lips. He looks goddamn gorgeous like this.

“I was so close,” he grumbles instead of pouring his heart out. “Why’d you stop?”

Henry shrugs, curling a hand around his length and pumping him fast and hard. “Wanted to see how you’d react,” he says nonchalantly. Alex’s snarky remark dies on the tip of his tongue when Henry licks at the tip again, his head falling back on the wall. Henry groans as he tastes him, digging his tongue into the slit, pressing a hand to his own clothed cock. The sight makes Alex’s head spin.

“You’re so hot, Henry, what the fuck,” he mutters. His eyes slip shut when Henry moans in response and starts to deepthroat his cock again. He sucks hard, swiping his tongue along the underside of Alex’s dick, desperately trying to get him off. And it’s fucking working. Alex is so hard, and Henry’s mouth is so wet, and the pleasure engulfs him fully, and before he knows it, he’s coming in Henry’s mouth, thick ropes shooting down his throat.

He feels boneless from this orgasm alone, but Henry clearly isn’t anywhere close to being satisfied. He rises back up to his feet and draws Alex into a searing kiss. He can taste himself on his tongue, something that should _not_ be as hot as it is, and he groans when Henry snatches his wrist and presses his palm flat against his crotch.

“I get so hard from kissing you,” he whispers against his lips, and _fuck,_ yeah, Henry is hard underneath his palm, so aroused that he can feel him throbbing through the swim trunks. He pulls Henry’s cock out, finally gets him in his hand, hard and leaking, and Henry moans, pressing his mouth against Alex’s neck. 

They’re still on borrowed time, so Alex jerks him off fast. Henry hisses against him, biting down on his collarbone, occasionally whispering small praises such as, _“So good, you feel so good,”_ and it makes Alex’s heart fucking melt. But it’s not enough, no, not nearly enough. He wrenches Henry’s face back to him, kissing him full on the mouth as his free hand slips underneath his trunks and kneads the soft flesh of his ass. Henry gasps into his mouth. Alex takes the opportunity to slide his tongue inside, meeting Henry’s with a strangled groan.

He can feel Henry’s thighs start to tremble again, a telltale sign that he’s close. He spreads the precome around the head, trying to get him off faster, harder. Henry whimpers and snaps his hips up. It’s the hottest thing he’s ever seen.

But Henry’s thrusting makes his fingers slip where they’re splayed against his ass, and suddenly, somehow, they’ve managed to slip in between his ass cheeks. Alex presses his fingers further until two of them brush against his hole, his breath hitching. And this is — wow, this is —

Henry fucking _growls_ from the contact, pushes back on Alex’s fingers, and comes. Alex isn’t expecting it, and a loud gasp escapes his lips at the feel of Henry’s come decorating his hand. Henry bites down on his lip, a breathy laugh escaping him, putting all his weight onto Alex, as if his legs will give out if he tries to support himself on his own. And just from a _handjob_ — and a thought forms in his mind. That thought, that curious little wonder of what Henry would look if they would go all the way, and fuck, that makes him go weak at the fucking knees.

“So you just, like… came,” Alex says when his brain finally catches up to form words again.

Henry chuckles, hot breath hitting his lips. “Yes, as that’s the point of getting off.”

“No, dipshit,” Alex groans, but he’s laughing as well. “I just meant… well, that looked intense.”

Henry pauses. “It was,” he agrees.

A gust of nervousness suddenly hits Alex. “Hey, I didn’t step too far, did I?” he asks, brushing his thumb against Henry’s cheek. Fuck, he shouldn’t feel nervous, not after kissing him senseless and jerking him off in a _supply shed_ of all places like they haven't seen each other for weeks on end.

“No, of course not,” Henry says quickly. “In all honesty, it’s something I’ve been thinking about since we started this whole thing. That is, if…” He bites his lip, and suddenly he looks nervous as well. “If that’s something you are also interested in.”

Alex pulls Henry’s face to his, kissing him sloppily. “Fuck, yeah, obviously,” he breathes out, because he would be lying if he said it didn’t cross his mind late at night, the idea of him fucking Henry, the idea of Henry fucking him. He shivers at the thought and kisses him harder. “Don’t — don’t know how we’ll be able to manage that, though.”

Henry pulls away, just enough that their lips still brush each other’s. “Aren’t the campers being taken to Base Camp on Tuesday?”

Alex blinks. “Yeah.” His voice comes out lower than he expects.

Henry’s fingers tighten in his grasp of his shirt. “So. So Tuesday, perhaps.”

Alex leans in to kiss him again, but Henry stops him. “Christ, I want to,” he mutters, staring fixedly at his lips, “but we don’t have much time left, and I can’t let myself get hard again.”

“That’s fair,” Alex says, “but I’m still gonna kiss you.” He presses their mouths together again, and Henry laughs into the kiss, the laugh quickly turning into a groan when the kiss deepens and their tongues meet.

God, the things Henry does to him.

Maybe it’s the promise of Tuesday, or maybe it’s simply because they’re both very horny twenty-something-year-olds, but Henry and Alex cannot seem to keep their hands off each other. They shower together in the staff shower houses early the next morning before breakfast, and Alex gets off just from the hard press of the tile under his knees, the thick drag of Henry’s cock on his tongue. The next night Alex can’t sleep, so he texts and texts Henry until he agrees to sneak out with him, and they end up making out against the side of the cabin. And on the weekend, they manage to get out of campfire yet again and hike up to the clearing by the falls, where Alex takes his time kissing every inch of Henry’s skin, the dip of his collarbone, the curve of his waist, the back of his knee, the inside of his ankle. It takes him a long time to come down after that.

Henry laughs when he comes. It’s the most gorgeous thing Alex has ever heard.

Liam rolls his eyes every time he catches Alex staring at Henry from across the camp. He doesn’t say much about their newfound relationship, aside from an exasperated _“Finally”_ the second Alex stepped foot in the cabin coming back from the falls the other day, but he can tell that he’s glad that they’ve stopped being stupid and just caved into their desire. It’s the same look June gives him when she spots them together, but at least she’s a bit more affectionate about it. Nora, on the other hand, throws a condom that she inexplicably whipped out of her pocket at his head.

It’s not his fault. Not really. If Henry wasn’t so damn beautiful all the time, or funny, or intelligent, or perfect, then he wouldn’t have the need to be around him all the time. But he is. So he does. It’s simple science, really.

Alex is busy tacking up the schedule for the next day on the cabin’s announcement board during quiet time and very deliberately _not_ thinking about how Henry kept staring at him when Zahra went over it during morning announcements when Carlos speaks up. “Hey Alex, why haven’t we been pranking Henry’s cabin?”

Alex frowns. “What do you mean?”

“We haven’t done anything since the Fourth of July. And that wasn’t even really a prank. It was a water balloon fight,” Carlos explains.

“Yeah,” Landen agrees, his head dangling upside down off the top bunk. “Last year we pranked ‘em five times by now.”

“He’s right, you know,” Liam mutters to him, not looking up from his book.

Alex turns around to face his campers, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. He didn’t even think about that before. But he’s right, the pranks this year have been minimal compared to previous ones. Alex knows why. First it was because Henry thought he didn’t want him to prank him back, and then they started talking, and Alex was more focused on getting closer to Henry than pranking him, and then blowjobs happened, and they’ve become so wrapped up in each other that it’s hard for Alex to concentrate on anything else.

“Is that something you guys want to keep doing?” he asks.

A chorus of “Yeahs” hits his ears almost immediately, taking him by surprise. He knows the kids like the pranks; they’ve always gone along with them, but he always saw them as a thing between himself and Henry. He never realized just how much the campers actually, genuinely _enjoy_ pulling these pranks.

Fuck. Some counselor he is.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he says apologetically, because he _is,_ and he wants his campers to know how touched he is by their enthusiasm. “Really. I didn’t know y’all love these pranks so much.”

“They’re the best part of camp!” Isaac pipes up. Alex’s heart swells.

“Tell you what.” Alex is already racking his brain for ideas. Shaving cream bomb? No, too small, he needs something all his kids can take part in. Beach deck? No, he already did that one two summers ago. “We’ll prank them during free time. I know Henry’s working at the camp store, so he’ll be out of our way. I just need to…” he trails off as an idea finally hits him, and oh. _Oh._ It’s a fucking good one. “I’ve got a shred of an idea, but I still need to figure out the details. Y’all are gonna like this one, trust me. I’ll have it all planned out by the time rest hour is over, okay?”

The kids’ excited faces gives him just the answer. They’re way too excited to do anything that falls under “rest hour,” and yeah, okay, that’s Alex’s fault, but he’s too hyped up to care if Zahra chews his ass out later. He plops back down on his cot, his mind whirring. Tin foil. They need some, and lots of it. It’ll be better to stick to the inside of the cabin; he doesn’t want to draw attention and spoil the prank before Henry can see it. They need to be especially sneaky as well, since campers aren’t allowed to stay in the cabins during free time. How is he going to fit all thirteen of his kids into a cabin, and into a cabin that isn’t theirs, no less? Fuck. Whatever. He’s dealt with worse.

The kids are practically buzzing by the time rest hour is over and they crowd around the deck outside. “Here’s the deal,” Alex says in a low tone, crouching down so he’s eye-level with the campers. “We’re gonna wrap the entire cabin in tin foil. Now, I need to make a quick pit stop to pick up the stuff. Here’s what y’all need to do —”

“Hang on,” Liam says quickly. “You need tin foil? There’s tons of that stuff in the kitchens.”

“Yeah, but I barely know the kitchen staff, I don’t want to steal —”

“I can take care of it. Promise.” Liam points a finger at Elijah and Jared. “You two think you can help me?” They nod eagerly. “Awesome. We’ll be right back.”

Alex blinks. “Okay then.” He has no idea how Liam thinks he can get a shit ton of tin foil without being caught, but that’s not his problem anymore. He shakes his head. “Well, that shortens up our preparations. All we need to do is wait until Henry’s cabin is all filled out, and then we can strike.”

Approximately five minutes later, the door to the cabin next to them opens and the campers spill out, diverting in all different directions for free time. Henry exits a few moments later, head turning instinctively towards Alex’s cabin as he walks down the steps. He does a double take when he sees the crowd of campers huddled together on the deck.

“Not up to anything, are we?” he calls out as he walks up to the deck. He has an amused little smile on his face, and Alex kind of wants to kiss it off him right then and there.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Wales,” Alex says back, leaning over the rail. He flashes him a grin. “Don’t you have a store to run?”

“Wow, getting rid of me this quickly?”

“Yep, I’m through with you. I’m gonna have Pez shove me in the lake and befriend him.”

 _“You_ pulled me in,” Henry reminds him. “But you’re right, I do have to be going.” He starts to walk away. “Come visit me there, will you?”

“Hmm, if time permits,” Alex says back, his words teasing.

Henry looks back over his shoulder, rolling his eyes, but the smile hasn’t faded from his face.

The rest of the camp is just about cleared out of the cabin area by the time Liam returns with Elijah and Jared, carrying about thirty rolls of tin foil in their arms. “This what you need?” Liam asks, tipping his stock into Alex’s outstretched arms.

“It’s perfect,” Alex says. “How did you get all this?”

Liam shrugs, a smirk teasing the corners of his lips. “I may or may not be seeing someone who conveniently works in the kitchens.”

“Oh my God. Who?” Alex presses, but Liam just shakes his head and starts passing out the tin foil to the rest of their campers. “Liam. You have to tell me. How long? And how did I not know about this?”

“You don’t know him. His name’s Spencer, I met him the last month of the semester, you didn’t know because I, unlike you, know how to keep my mouth shut about potential relationships.”

Alex huffs. “Well, that’s no fun. But hey, I’m happy for you, man. Maybe after dinner tonight you can sneak me in the back so I can meet this Spencer who can magically supply us with enough tin foil to cover an entire cabin, huh?”

“In your dreams, Claremont. It’s still pretty new. I don’t want you scaring him away.”

“Please. I am delightful, he’s gonna love me already.” Alex rips out a sheet of foil and turns to the campers. “Okay, I think we’re good to go. We’ve got three hours until dinner. If we can get this done before then, I’ll let you have an extra half hour before lights out. Is that enough motivation?”

The boys whoop in approval. Alex grins. “Excellent. Follow me.”

They cross over to Henry’s cabin, climb up the steps of the porch, and after another quick sweep of the area to make sure no one sees him smuggling thirteen campers into someone else’s cabin, throws open the screen door. He expects to see an empty, worn-down cabin, ready to be covered head to toe in tin foil. What he doesn’t expect is to lock eyes with someone sitting nonchalantly in their bunk, not a care in the world.

Pez blinks. “What the —”

“Shit,” Alex mutters under his breath. “Abort!” he calls to his campers. “There’s been an infiltration!”

“Hold on a minute!” Pez rushes out, hopping off of his bunk. He gestures to the rolls of foil in Alex’s arms. “What’s all this? Some grand scheme for a prank?”

Alex freezes. He has no idea what he’s supposed to do in a situation like this; he’s never been caught pulling off a prank before. “Uh… no?”

Pez raises an eyebrow, snickering slightly, clearly not buying it. “What prank, Alex?”

“Um.” Alex can feel himself sweating. “We were gonna… gonna wrap everything in the room in tin foil,” he mutters.

Pez throws his head back and laughs, the exact opposite of how Alex expected him to react. “That's bloody brilliant,” he says, slightly snickering. “Get yourselves in here, I’ll help you wrap. And about time, too; Henry’s been waiting for you to set a prank on him. He’s been acting like a bomb about to go off the past three days, I swear to God.”

The thing in Alex’s chest flutters again. Fuck. That’s been happening much too often for his own comfort.

“You heard the man,” Alex says, holding the door open so his campers can spill into the cabin. “Get a roll and get wrapping. I don’t want to see an inch of wood after we’re done.”

The actual act of wrapping the foil is much easier than Alex expects it to be. Pez rummages around the closet until he pulls out a roll of masking tape, and all sixteen of them immediately get started on the walls. The cabin isn’t big, not by any means, but it’s a large enough task that it takes them nearly an entire hour to completely cover the walls in tin foil. Liam and half of the campers climb on the top bunks to tackle the ceiling while Alex, Pez, and the rest of the kids move on to wrap the bunks themselves. Alex immediately moves to Henry’s single, taking in the little slice of home that is Henry. His duffle bag is sticking out from under the cot, the top flap halfway open, exposing the items stashed in there. Alex can’t help it; he takes a peak: clothes folded neatly at the bottom, an NYU sweatshirt on top. A copy of Jane Austen’s _Persuasion_. A sleeve of something called Jaffa Cakes.

Alex grins to himself as he begins to wrap his pillow. Maybe he should leave him something behind, just as a special gift for Henry. Maybe a note? Or better yet, he could pay him a visit at the end of free time, steal him away from his duties and make small talk until they arrive back at his cabin, then Alex can see the look on his face the moment he steps inside and sees the room coated in silver. Yes, that’s it. And then later on, after dinner and campfire and everyone has gone to bed, he’ll sneak out and meet Henry outside, and he’ll kiss him dumbly and tell him how he can’t wait to see him one-up him in pranks, and Henry will tease him back, and they’ll lay in the grass together and talk into the late hours of the night, way too long than they should be staying up.

It hits Alex just then. How he’s never felt this way about anyone before.

“Toss me a roll, will you?” Pez says, sidling up next to Alex. Alex startles slightly, partly due to Pez’s unexpected appearance and partly due to his newfound realization. He pushes the latter thought into the back of his mind, telling himself that he’ll worry about it later, and hands Pez an extra roll of tin foil. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” Alex realizes that he’s never been alone like this with Pez. He’s led activities with him before, but that was always with a group of kids, and he’s had plenty of meals with him, but that was always with June or Nora or Liam present. And it’s not that he doesn’t like Pez. He thinks he’s great. But Pez is Henry’s best friend, he always has been, and Alex has always associated Pez with Henry. He supposes some of that anger he felt towards Henry in earlier years was also pushed onto Pez.

Nice going, Claremont, he thinks. Way to be an asshole.

“Hey,” Alex starts, suddenly struck by this revelation. He’s been having a lot of those lately. “I should, um. Well. I should apologize to you.”

Pez chuckles as he wraps tin foil around a bedpost. “What for?”

“For being a jerk,” Alex says flatly. Pez laughs. “Seriously! I was never the nicest with Henry until this summer, obviously, and since you’re his best friend, I think I pushed some of that frustration onto you. You didn’t deserve that. You’re a really cool dude, and I should’ve treated you like an actual person instead of Henry’s little sidekick. So, I’m sorry.”

Pez smiles warmly. “I appreciate it. But I think you should know that I never saw you like that. In fact, I tended to withdraw from you for Henry’s sake. So I guess we both have apologies to give.”

Alex smiles back. “Well. Apology accepted, then.”

“Speaking of,” Pez says a few moments later, moving on to a different bedpost, “I’m sure Henry’s told you about his family troubles and why he ended up here. I don’t know how much he’s said, but you should know that this place really makes him happy. This summer is the best I’ve ever seen him since his dad passed.”

Alex stops. “Was it really that bad?”

Pez laughs lowly. “I’ve known Henry since we were thirteen. He was always under constant pressure from his brother, his grandmother as well, and I quickly saw how much it was taking a toll on him. It was especially bad the months where Arthur had to travel for his films and Henry was practically stuck with them. But when he actually lost his dad… to say I was worried was an understatement. He was at his lowest point then. And his brother certainly didn’t help.”

“Henry told me he felt like they were replacing him,” Alex remembers. “He said the pressure got so bad that he had to get out of there.”

Pez nods. “Exactly. But when we got to New York, he wasn’t doing any better. Cutting ties from his family was a step; he didn’t talk to anybody except for his sister, Beatrice, bless her. She helped him a lot with the move. So when we came here, and you two fell into your prank wars — it lit him up. He never said anything to me, but it was obvious. Those pranks, as dead from the neck up as they are, really helped pull him back up to his feet. That, and the fact that he desperately wanted to shag you,” he says bluntly, causing Alex to laugh. Pez laughs along with him, then his expression grows softer. “You make him happy, Alex. You really do. Even before this summer.”

“Well,” Alex says, his voice soft, “he makes me happy.”

And he does. Henry has always made him happy, whether it's from the way he pranked Alex back the very next day every time without fail to the way he smiles against his mouth when they kiss. He just wishes it didn’t have to take him four summers to realize this.

They just barely finish covering the cabin with tin foil by the time free time is up — the floor isn’t covered like he wishes, and the foil got especially ripped when they tried to wrap the sinks, but for a prank thrown together at the last minute, Alex is proud of their work. All the beds are wrapped, the walls and the ceiling, and it truly looks like someone spilled a gallon of silver paint all around the room.

He leaves to fetch Henry while Liam gets the campers out of the cabin and finds a place to watch the aftermath. Pez promises not to let any of his kids inside until Henry gets back. Alex is practically jogging to get to the Rec Center. It’s just a prank, he has to tell himself. Just another stupid prank, like every other one he’s pulled on them. But somehow, it feels different after hearing what Pez said to him. More personal. More meaningful.

The sign in the camp store window says closed, but the door is unlocked, so Alex waltzes right in. “Hen?” he calls out.

“In the back!” he hears Henry’s voice, faint from the door to the back room. Alex has to hold his grin back as he slips inside.

Henry is stocking t-shirts on the shelves when Alex makes his way to him. “Hey there,” he says, throwing a flirty smile his way. “Finally showed up, then? I thought you’d gotten lost on your way over.”

“Ha ha,” Alex says, deadpan. He squeezes as close as he can to Henry in between the shelves, sliding his hands up his arms and resting on his shoulders. “I was busy. Next time I’ll come sooner, considering you’re so desperate to see me.”

“Oi,” Henry says. “I don’t need to inflate your ego even more. I was doing plenty fine before you showed up.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t get any of this, did you?” Alex teases, leaning into his space. He closes the distance between them and presses his lips against Henry’s. Henry immediately opens his mouth, his tongue coaxing Alex’s lips, but Alex doesn’t budge and keeps the kiss slow and sweet. He nips at Henry’s bottom lip before pulling away. “As much as I’d love staying here and making out with you, we have dinner in ten minutes.”

“Tease,” Henry mutters, his eyes fixated on his mouth.

“You know it.” Alex can’t help it, he leans in for another quick kiss. Henry cups his jaw and holds him in place, swiping his tongue along Alex’s lower lip, practically begging for entrance. Alex gives in. He opens his mouth and Henry moans as their tongues meet. His hands slide up his face and twist in his curls, holding him in place as they kiss deeply. Alex forces himself to pull away. “We should really get going, though.”

“What’s got you in a rush?” Henry teases as they exit the back room.

“Oh, you know. Pizza night. Best meal of the summer.”

“Better than your grilling, no doubt.”

“My grilling is _excellent._ Or did you come back for thirds because you couldn’t stay away from me?”

Henry smiles knowingly. “That might have been part of it.”

Fuck. There it is again. The butterflies that erupt in the pit of his stomach every time Henry lays down one of those cards. He remembers, faintly, what he and Henry agreed on last week. Casual sex. But going out of their way to visit each other, stealing glances across the dining hall, arguing over the best Star Wars movie through late-night texts, well. That’s anything but casual. To Alex, at least.

“What’s going on here?” Henry asks when they walk up to his cabin. The campers are crowded around the porch, chatting with Pez. Liam and the rest of their cabin is huddled under a tree a safe distance away, doing a terrible job of acting like they have no idea what's going on. It's a good thing Henry doesn't notice.

“Locked myself out of the cabin,” Pez explains, his face neutral. “Some kids need to drop their things off before dinner. Care to open it up?”

“Fine,” Henry mutters, fishing out the cabin keys as he walks up the stairs to the door. “What is this, the fourth time you’ve misplaced the keys this summer? Honestly, you’ve got to —”

He falls silent as the door swings open. The light spilling into the cabin reflects off the mountains of foil, blinding Alex only slightly. He refuses to meet eyes with Pez; he knows he won’t be able to stop himself from laughing if he does. The giddiness still bubbles up in him. He bites down on his finger to stifle his inevitable laughter.

The kids start to finally notice, and they cry out in mixed expressions of annoyance and entertainment. At the same time, Alex's kids pop out, laughing and taunting, just like they always do. Henry turns back to face Alex, his mouth open in a smile, his eyes shining. “How long did this take?” he asks, a look of bewildered amusement on his face.

“The whole time,” Alex manages, shoulder shaking with silent laughter. “Pretty good, huh? I’d say it’s my best prank yet. You can thank Pez for the extra help.”

Henry’s eyes flash dangerously in Pez’s direction, who’s crying from laughing so hard. “You utter tosser. Of course you were in on it.” He shakes his head, laughing. “I can’t even be mad about this. If you need to store something in the cabin, just toss it one of the corners,” he tells his campers. “We’ll make Pez tear all this down later.”

“Me?” Pez yelps, wiping his eyes. “It was Alexander’s idea!”

“Yes, but I expected this of him. You, on the other hand, have betrayed me.”

“Suck it, Okonjo. Although I did appreciate the assistance,” Alex says with a wink.

Henry presses up against his side while Liam takes their campers to the dining hall and Pez takes his kids to the communal bathrooms to wash up before dinner (the bathrooms in their cabin are unavailable, since Alex also wrapped that room in foil). He smiles warmly, nudging his shoulder with his. “How in the world,” he starts, “did you find enough aluminium foil to cover the entire cabin?”

Alex bites on his lower lip. “Say that again,” he rushes out.

“What, aluminium?”

_“God.”_

Henry scoffs. “You are _not_ getting turned on by the way I say al—”

“Jesus, don’t keep saying it,” Alex groans, rubbing his face with one hand. “I can’t help it if your accent makes everything you say sound sexy.”

“You are a demon.”

“Mmh, I’ve heard worse.”

Henry smiles softly at him, and fuck, Alex can’t handle it when Henry looks at him like that, like he’s the only thing worth seeing. “I am _so_ going to get you back. You’ll barely see it coming.”

“Dream all you want, Wales,” Alex says back. “I’m very skeptical that anything can top this.”

“Oh, just wait,” Henry muses. “I’ve had this idea since my first summer here. I think now is finally the right time to unveil it.”

That peaks Alex’s attention. “Well then. I’m looking forward to it.”

Henry’s hand ghosts over his hip, intentionally or not, Alex doesn’t know, but it makes him shiver all the same. “I’m sure you are.”

Fuck, if he isn’t already, Henry is going to be the death of him.


	7. The Spiral of "What If?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021 y'all!!!!! Thank God we're out of the clusterfuck that was 2020. Sending you all good vibes for this new year! <3
> 
> Buckle up because this chapter is a looooong one. Just over 11k words. It's also my favorite chapter that I've written for this fic!! Think of it as my (late) New Year's Day gift to everyone, haha! Also, Henry's prank in the beginning is inspired by a senior prank my junior year of high school. I still have no idea how it was pulled off, but nonetheless, it was extremely effective!
> 
> One more note: apparently Base Camp is only a Minnesota thing, but for the sake of this story, it's also a New York thing. It's not important, just is mentioned a couple times at the beginning of the chapter. For context, it's a place with rock climbing and a ropes course and archery and team building activities for kids to do. [Check out the website if you want.](https://www.explorebasecamp.org/)
> 
> I've kept you here long enough!! Enjoy the chapter!!

A loud banging on the door tears Alex awake the next morning. He groans into his pillow. He knows that knock. It’s Zahra’s I-will-break-this-door-down-in-the-next-thirty-seconds-if-you-don’t-open-up knock. He deliriously wonders what on earth he did to deserve that knock so early in the morning.

Apparently Liam wonders the same, because he grumbles from the next bunk over, “Claremont, what did you do?”

“Nothing,” Alex insists, rubbing his eyes to try to force himself awake. Well. Maybe she found out that Alex snuck all of his campers into a different cabin during free time. But that surely wouldn’t piss her off enough to practically knock down the door before seven in the morning. So what on earth was this all about?”

“Wuz happenin?” Marco sleepily calls out from across the cabin.

With an agitated noise, Alex pushes himself off his cot and stumbles to the door. If this really was about the prank yesterday and Zahra woke him up at the asscrack of dawn to berate him for it, Alex thinks as he swings open the door, oh boy, then he’s going to —

“What the —”

Alex nearly trips over a row of paper cups placed upside down on the deck. And then another row behind that. He scans the scene in front of him. Paper cups cover every inch of the deck, crowded together so Alex has to squint in order to see the wood. They line up on the railing, down the stairs, right to the feet of Henry, who’s standing in front of the cabin with his arms crossed, grinning madly.

“Good morning,” Henry calls out. “Having some trouble finding your way out, are we?”

Alex is faintly aware of the other people watching the scene go down: Pez and their campers on one side, Nora and June and a handful of their cabin on the other. Amy and Cash watching from a distance away, amused smiles on their faces. He’s also faintly aware of the Chewbacca pajama pants he’s sporting. But Henry is looking at him expectantly, and he’s not about to let him have the high ground. Oh no. Not at all.

He snorts. “This is what you’ve been waiting to pull off for four summers? Cups on the deck? Disappointed is an understatement.”

He kicks over a cup with his toe to further prove his point, but gasps out in surprise. Water spills out from under the cup, soaking the wood of the deck. The cup that he knocked over bumps into another one, making that fall as well. More water spills out. It takes Alex a second to process what actually happened.

Finally a laugh escapes his lips, slightly hysterical. “Okay, that’s pretty good,” he admits. “There’s water underneath all of these?”

Henry shrugs. “Among other things. I put paint under a few. Oh, and there’s some glitter hidden in there as well. Shame if that were to spill out; it really does stick everywhere, doesn’t it?”

“You’re evil for this one, Wales.”

Liam pads up to his side at that moment, hair tousled and bleary-eyed. He stops when he sees the army of paper cups. “What the hell?” he mutters.

“We’re trapped,” Alex says back, still laughing. “There’s water under all the cups.”

Liam looks dumbfounded. “How did he even —” He breaks off into a groan, rubbing his face. “Alex, for someone who graduated in three and a half years, you can really be a fucking idiot. It’s just _water._ Kick ‘em out of the way, it’ll dry up eventually.”

“Yeah, but he put other things under there, too,” Alex says. He meets eyes with Henry again, and he looks so goddamn smug with himself, but he looks beautiful at the same time, and Alex can’t stop grinning. “And I don’t know which ones aren’t water.”

“Oh. Um.” Liam turns back into the cabin, nodding at the back corner. “Back door?”

“Don’t bother,” Henry calls out. “You’ve been barricaded all around. You can thank June for the back door, however.”

Alex whips his head around to stare at his sister. “You’re in on this?” he exclaims.

June snorts. “Please. Of course I am. You needed this, we can’t have you going around thinking you’re the only one who can pull off a good prank.”

“Well, consider it done,” Alex mumbles. He tries to step into a small space between the cups, but his foot is too large and he easily knocks it over. Water spills out onto the deck, soaking his sock. “Shit.”

The campers are starting to crowd around the door, peering out to look at the cup-covered porch. Alex’s mind, for the first time in his life, is blank. He has no clue what to do. And as he looks at Liam, his eyes questioning, he can tell that his best friend is just as lost as he is.

The small crowd in front of the cabin dissolves sporadically after that. Pez delivers high fives to all his campers when he realizes that Alex isn’t getting anywhere. His kids think it’s hilarious, at least, so he’s not feeling too disgruntled about being trapped in. He keeps staring at Henry, though; Henry and his satisfied little smile. He’s sickening and gorgeous and Alex wants to stride over to him and show him who’s smug, wants to kiss him until that smile is wiped off his face and replaced with parted lips, groaning softly when Alex kisses the underside of his jaw.

But he can’t. Because he’s trapped in his cabin.

Henry is the last one to leave their cabin, tapping at his watch as he walks away. “I hope you manage to get out soon!” he calls, his words teasing. “Half an hour until the bus leaves!”

Alex groans. _Shit_. The kids are going to Base Camp today, of course. Goddammit, why did Henry have to deliver his best prank since Alex has known him the day they’re on a time crunch?

“We could crawl out the window,” Ryland suggests.

“And risk breaking your neck? I don’t think so,” Alex says back. He stops, considering. “Well. Maybe as a last resort.”

“Why can’t we just run through it?” Asher complains. “It’ll be faster.”

“You heard Henry, he snuck paint and glitter and God knows what into some of these. And if we charge, you know who’s gonna be stuck scrubbing paint off the deck while y’all are at Base Camp? Me.”

“Hey Alex,” Liam calls from inside the cabin. He’s got the storage closet open, staring at something on the shelves. “We’ve got a bucket.”

Alex stares at him blankly. “Congrats?”

“No, you idiot. I mean a _bucket,_ bucket.” Liam holds up the medium-sized tub filled with cleaning supplies. “We can just put it over the cups. Y’know, like stepping stones.”

Alex’s brain is finally starting to catch up. “That could work.” He looks back out to the porch. “We need at least one more, though. Then we can just jump from the stairs.”

“We’ll check the bathrooms!” the other Alex offers. He grabs Oliver’s hand and runs off.

Surprisingly enough, they find something better than a bucket, and drag out a plastic bin wedged under the sinks. It takes them a long while to place the buckets upside down over the cups, and several of them spill over in the process. Thankfully, the ones they knock over only seem to contain water. They get the first bucket secured and Alex stands on top of it while Liam passes him the bin to set closer to the stairs. It’s at this moment when Zahra walks by, takes one look at them, turns around, and heads back in the direction she came from.

“Fifteen minutes!” he calls from the bucket, watching the campers scramble to get dressed and brush their teeth. “Y’all are gonna have to eat breakfast on the bus, and if Zahra gives you any crap, blame Henry.”

They must look ridiculous, two grown men hopping from one bucket to the next to avoid a deck littered in paper cups, helping the campers as they jump to the ground and sending them sprinting to the dining hall for a quick breakfast to go. They just manage to get all of them on the buses to Base Camp in time. Zahra points a finger at them after the last camper bounces up the steps. “You know the drill,” she says authoritatively, looking at them straight in the eyes. “We’re back at four, don’t do anything stupid, make sure to restock the canteen after you raid it. And do something with those damn cups, got it?”

“Technically, it was Henry who —”

“Does it look like I want to hear it?” Zahra waves them away. “Now go. Enjoy your day off.”

A day off. It’s not that Alex doesn’t love his campers, because he does, he really does, but at the end of the day, they’re middle school boys. It gets tiring after constantly being around them for nearly a month. So a couple years before Alex became a counselor, Zahra arranged for the older counselors to take the entire camp on a field trip to the nearby Base Camp so as to reward the younger counselors for their dedication towards their cabins. That’s her reasoning, anyway. Alex wonders if part of it is also to give the older counselors a break from _them,_ but hey, they get the whole camp to themselves, and that’s good enough for Alex.

“Ah, look who finally decided to show up!” Pez calls when he and Liam walk into the dining hall, still clad in their pajama bottoms and rumpled undershirts.

“And whose fucking fault is that?” Alex shoots back, taking a seat besides Henry as Liam slips off to the back of the kitchen. He steals the other half of Henry’s bagel from his plate and takes a bite.

“You’re rather pissy after getting beaten,” Henry says casually, causing Alex to splutter.

 _“Beaten?”_ he repeats. “It was never a competition!”

“You would say shit like that after losing,” June points out.

“It’s not _losing_ if it was never a _competition_ ,” Alex stresses. He reaches for Henry’s steaming cup of tea, brings it to his nose to sniff. “What's this?”

“Earl grey.”

“Good enough for me.” He takes a sip from the mug. “Anyway. It was never a competition,” he says again, pointing a finger at June. “It was an attempt to get this stubborn shithead to loosen up and actually be fun for once. And then _he_ initiated all the pranking when he put that stupid stink bomb in my bag.”

“I think my retaliation was perfectly justified,” Henry says back coolly. He takes the tea back from Alex and takes his own drink before setting it down. “It could have ended then. You just _had_ to prove your worth.”

His snarky remark is on the tip of his tongue — _Is that something you regret, sweetheart?_ — but he forgets it momentarily when Liam sits down next to him, a stack of pancakes in tow. Alex blinks. “How the hell did you get pancakes?”

Liam shrugs. “Perks of dating someone on the kitchen staff.”

“Not fair. Gimme.”

“So you can mooch off everyone’s breakfast instead of getting your own food? I think the fuck not,” Nora chimes in. “Go get your Lucky Charms like the fucking five-year-old you are.”

“Excuse you. Lucky Charms are _fantastic,_ and I will not tolerate this slander of the best cereal in existence —”

Breakfast quickly turns into the Great Cereal Debate of 2020. Alex refuses to lose, especially since he’s studying the art of arguing, and makes a strong case for Lucky Charms (“What other cereal delivers the perfect combination of savory flakes with the sweet, sugary goodness of marshmallows? None. Check and mate.”). Nora and June team up to defend their choice of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, while Liam debates for the sake of Cocoa Puffs. Henry and Pez try to convince them that their personal favorite, something called Frosted Shreddies, is superior, but the four of them boo them off.

“Y’all eat _beans_ for breakfast,” Nora accuses, now on her feet from the intensity of the debate. “You really expect us to take what you say seriously?”

After breakfast, where no clear winner is decided but Alex promises Henry that he’s going to make him enjoy Lucky Charms until the day he dies, he and Liam rush back to their cabin, climb back over the buckets placed over the cups, and change into t-shirts and shorts before heading back down to the gaga pit. Alex still refuses to play when Liam is in the pit, not willing to risk losing the glory of beating his best friend, so he serves as the referee while the five of them play. Eventually, the others get tired of Liam winning all the time, and he and Alex switch out. Alex makes it his goal to get Henry out each time. He succeeds in three games, while Henry manages to eliminate him twice. Afterwards, when they’re out of breath and slightly sweaty, they run down to the canteen and stock up on anything they can find: candy, soda, ice cream bars. Alex grins every time he passes by the picture of himself and the other Alex tacked up by the slushie machines.

“Hey,” Nora says a few minutes into their raid, holding a Red Vine between her teeth. “Who wants to take a trip down to the falls?”

They all agree, and the group splits up to change into their swimsuits and grab towels. “Oh no,” Alex says when Henry passes right by his cabin, barely giving it a second glance. “I’m not navigating this fucking obstacle course every time I want to go in. Just tell me which cups have that fancy shit under them so I can avoid those.”

Henry laughs. “Oh, that. I was just pulling your leg, all of them are filled with water. I couldn’t let you find a solution that quickly, now could I?”

Alex gapes at him. “You motherfucker!” he exclaims, slapping his chest. “Do you know how much time we spent making sure those buckets didn’t topple anything over? And all for nothing!”

“Yes, Alex, that was part of the plan.”

Alex makes sure to kick some water cups in Henry’s direction when he crosses the deck. He throws on his blue swim trunks and his old Georgetown t-shirt before meeting Henry and Pez outside again. He tries not to stare too long at Henry’s strong legs, the way his muscles flex with every step.

“Have you guys jumped from the falls before?” Alex asks. Both Henry and Pez shake their heads. “Oh man. We have to do that. Hey, do you think that swinging rope is still up?” he says to Liam.

“Probably. I’m guessing Zahra forgot about it when she banned the cannonball contest and never took it down.”

_“Excellent.”_

The hike up to the falls is rather uneventful, except for the knowing look Henry and Alex share, remembering the hike they led earlier in the summer, where Henry told him that he thought they bonded during the silly string catastrophe, where Alex snatched his phone and put in his own number, where they confessed that they never hated each other. It’s so different this time around, Alex realizes as he watches Pez spin June around to the tune of the music she’s playing from the small speaker in her backpack. Previous years on their day off consisted of him, Liam, June, and Nora gathered in the Rec Center playing Monopoly or breaking into Zahra’s office and shotgunning the cans of beers she has stored in her mini fridge. He rarely did anything with Pez until now, and he never did anything with Henry. And he was happy doing those things separately, but as he looks around, at Liam and Nora bickering about which counselor held the record for the biggest cannonball, at Pez and June stopping in the middle of the trail for a dance break, at Henry not-so-subtly linking his pinkie finger with his, he feels so much happier with their gang now. He wants to kick himself for not realizing how good this would feel two, three years ago.

Henry smiles at him. Now’s not the time to regret the past. He’s too caught up in the present and how good it’s been to him.

They dump their towels and bags filled with food from the canteen off at the clearing. The same clearing that Henry put his mouth on Alex for the first time. Alex wills himself not to meet Henry’s eyes, knowing he won’t be able to hold in his laughter if he does so. Instead, he shucks off his shirt and peers over the rocks, looking at the trees closer to the water. “Fuck yeah, the rope’s still there. Let’s go.”

The six of them make their way through the path that used to be there — no one has gone down to this part of the falls in so long that the nature has started to grow back over the trail. The rope is looking old, but Nora takes a couple hard tugs on it and promises that it will support their weight, and if they die, Alex tells her, then she has to be the one to tell Zahra.

They take turns swinging on the rope and cannonballing into the water, cheering and shouting in excitement. Pez attempts to do a flip halfway through the air and ends up belly flopping with a loud smack. Henry is the last one to dive in. Alex watches him from the water, thinking that he looks extremely out of place, as if he’s not fully letting himself enjoy this as much as he wants to, when he swings out and lets go of the rope, letting out the loudest whoop of all when he crashes into the water.

June, Nora, Liam, and Pez start up an intense game of chicken when Henry swims up next to Alex. “If my brother could see me right now,” Henry laughs, water dripping from his face.

“What, he’s got that big of a stick up his ass?”

“You don’t even know.” Something in Henry’s eyes flicker. “Always on about reputation, how we have to sacrifice our happiness for the sake of _family_ , as if he even cared for us in the first place. It was always the safe route with him.” He looks back up at Alex, and his smile widens. “However, I’m starting to find that I rather enjoy the risks.”

Alex’s heart swells.

They join the chicken fight as well, Alex and Liam against June and Nora against Henry and Pez, and when the water gets too cold and their fingers start to prune, they make the climb back up to the clearing for a late lunch. Alex and Henry share a blanket, towels draped over their shoulders, Alex’s head resting on Henry’s shoulder. It feels so natural that Alex doesn’t notice that none of the others are sparing them a second glance until he realizes that, one, this is not natural, and two, they very much should be looking.

Casual sex, Alex reminds himself. That’s what they agreed on.

It’s easier to remember when Henry leans into his ear and murmurs, “I’ve been thinking about your hands on me all bloody day,” causing goosebumps to erupt all over Alex’s body.

“Soon, okay?” he says back quietly, his fingers skimming Henry’s knee. “I promise.”

They run out of snacks twenty minutes later, and that’s when they decide to hike back to the campground. “We’ve got about two hours before the kids come back,” Nora says when they come out from the trees, looking at her watch. “Monopoly, anyone?”

Liam shakes his head. “I’m gonna visit Spencer,” he says. “Don’t get much time with the campers swarming around.”

“Fair enough,” Nora says, already making her way to the Rec Center. “Someone else is gonna have to watch for Alex swiping money from the bank, though.”

“Actually. Um.” Alex stops. “Henry and I were going to — I mean, I wanted to show Henry —”

 _“Please,”_ Pez cuts him off, laughing wildly. “We all know you two want to shag. Just go.”

Alex is too horny to be embarrassed. He grabs Henry’s hand and drags him in the direction of the cabins, calling out behind him, “Have fun becoming capitalist slaves!”

“Use protection!” June yells back, laughing, and Alex throws her the middle finger.

“We are _not_ doing it in the cabins,” Henry says once they’re out of earshot.

“Of course not,” Alex promises. “I know a place.”

The place, actually, is a cabin, but not one of theirs. Alex runs his hands over the top of the door frame until he grabs hold of a key, unlocking the door and flipping on the lights. It’s smaller than the usual cabins, only holding three single cots, looking unusually tidy with the white pillows and thin sheets. 

“What is this?” Henry asks, shutting the door behind him.

“Cabins for counselors in training,” Alex explains. “This is where Liam and I stayed in high school. But less and less campers are returning to Cannon Falls as counselors, so these have been pretty much empty for the past couple years.”

“I have been noticing that,” Henry agrees as Alex leads them to the nearest bunk. “It’s only been the six of us for a while now, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I just… I don’t know. I hope I’m making camp worthwhile enough that the kids want to come back. Like I did.”

“Hey.” Henry cradles his face in his hands. Alex leans into his touch. His expression is so soft, so tender that it’s the only thing he can focus on. “I have no doubt in my mind that you’re doing exactly what you wish for. I see the way those kids look up to you. I’ve seen it ever since I first arrived here. You are the reason they keep coming back, Alex. I’m sure of it.” He brushes a strand of hair behind his ear. “And once they’re old enough, they’ll come back as counselors, or counselors in training, hoping to give their own campers the same experience that you've given them.”

Alex blinks. He tries to speak, tries to tell Henry how much his words mean to him, how much _he_ means to him, but the words get stuck in his throat. He wraps his arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Blue eyes bore into his. The way Henry looks at him should be illegal.

Instead of saying that, instead of saying anything of that, he stands on his toes and brings their mouth together. It’s so distracting, knowing that Henry’s lips are his to kiss and not being able to do anything about it. But now. Now he can. Now is their time, only him and Henry and the cabin; the rest of the camp can cease to exist if he wants it to. Right now, the only thing that matters is Henry.

The kiss is slow, but just as deep as their frenzied ones when sneaking around. Alex kisses him and kisses him, pushes his tongue in his mouth, curls his fingers in his hair. He tries to tell Henry how he feels through his kisses. How his hand on his skin lingers far longer in his mind than the act itself. How he lights a fire inside of him every time he looks at him. How he doesn’t want this to simply be a summer fling.

He pulls away when the thought crosses his mind. Maybe it was just the taste of his lips that made him think something like that. Yeah, it’s like that. How he feels intoxicated every time Henry’s lips meet his. Of course it would make his brain come up with something so nonsensical.

Henry brushes his thumb against his cheek, smiles at him affectionately. No. It’s not like that.

Now’s not the time. Not now.

“C’mere,” Alex whispers, surging forward and meeting Henry’s lips in a kiss again.

It’s heavier this time, more desperate, more filthy. Henry slides his hands down Alex’s bare chest and palms at his hips, gently nudging him backwards until the backs of his knees hit the bunk. Alex lays down on the cramped mattress, pulling Henry on top of him. His hands move up and down Henry’s back as they kiss, tracing the ridges of his spine, feeling the roll of his shoulder blades, digging his nails into the soft skin at his sides. He lets out a quiet moan when Henry attaches his mouth to his collarbone and sucks, tongue dragging across the skin that’s surely going to bruise.

“I can’t say I’ve ever done this before,” Henry mumbles into the crook of his neck, making Alex drop his head back and laugh, loud and full.

“What, hook up at a summer camp?” He can feel the tension leaving him with that one joke. This is what he needs; something light, something fun. Something that won’t weigh on his shoulders for the rest of the summer.

“Obviously.” Henry lifts his head to meet Alex’s gaze. His eyes narrow. “Have you?”

Alex shrugs one shoulder. “Maybe.”

“Alex Claremont-Diaz. You are _dirty.”_

“Oh, that? That was me making out with a girl and she gave me a handjob. This, however —” He snakes his hand between their bodies and squeezes Henry’s clothed cock, already half-hard. Henry bites on his lip to stifle his groan. _“This_ is dirty.”

“Fuck,” Henry breathes. He fists his hair and crashes his mouth against his, moaning when their tongues meet. Alex continues to slowly rub him to full hardness as their lips meet over and over and over again. Eventually he can’t stand the sexual tension building between them and shoves Henry’s swim trunks to mid-thigh. He wraps his hand around Henry’s dick and gives it a few quick pumps, relishing in the way Henry gasps into his mouth, the way his hips start to thrust into his hand. Henry tugs at his own trunks, and he lifts his hips, and then he’s kicking his trunks out of the way as Henry does the same, and Henry settles in between his legs, moaning as their hard cocks brush against each other.

“How do you want to do this?” Alex mutters, his fingers dancing across Henry’s shoulders. “Because I’m fine either way.”

Henry sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, and fuck, Alex is so drunk on his kisses. “I want you inside me,” he says, low and gravelly. It hits Alex right in the gut.

“Fuck, okay,” he pants. Henry grinds his hips down on his, their cocks already slick from the leaking precome. Even with his wishes of receiving, it looks as though he has no intentions of letting Alex move on top, and fuck, if that doesn’t turn him on even more. He bites down on Henry’s earlobe. “We just need —” He stops. “Oh, _shit._ Henry, we don’t have anything.”

“I, erm.” Henry pulls back, looking into Alex’s eyes. A faint pink color dusts his cheeks, more of a blush of embarrassment rather than a blush of arousal. “I might have gone out and bought supplies last weekend. And I might have been carrying it around with me the entire day.”

Alex laughs in disbelief, leaning in to kiss Henry again, open-mouthed and sloppy. “God, of course you did. Where is it?”

“Wrapped it in the towel,” Henry mutters, but the promise of a condom and lube sounds insignificant to him, much too distracted by Alex’s lips again. He circles his thumb around the head of Alex's cock, spreading the precome, making him jerk and hiss. _“Fuck,_ Alex. You’re so good, you feel so good.”

“Henry. Fuck.” His hand is so talented, flicking the head, pulling on his balls just right, and soon he feels a familiar heat start to pool in his gut, and no, he can’t come, not yet, not this quickly. “Lube, Hen.”

“Right, of course.” Henry lifts himself up just enough for Alex to slip out from under him and stumble to the door where they hurriedly dropped their towels. He shakes Henry’s towel out, a condom and a tiny bottle of lube falling to the floor. He picks it up and hurries back to the bunk.

Henry has turned on his back when he looks up again, his knees bent and feet flat on the mattress, stroking his cock languidly, biting his lip as his eyes roam down Alex’s body. Alex can’t control himself when Henry looks at him like that, not when they’re this far in, and he practically vaults himself in between Henry’s legs and leans down to kiss him, running his hands through his hair while their lips meet again and again like they’re each other’s only source of oxygen.

They rub against each other, Alex keeping up small thrusts as he focuses on the heated making out. He feels the slide of Henry’s cock against him, and he’s so hard, and Henry says, “You’re so hard, Alex, fuck,” and his nails dig into his hips, urging him on even more. Alex figures he’s had enough foreplay, a good four summers enough of it, and he squeezes the lube on his fingers and reaches down to touch his hole. He circles his rim, spreading the lube, teasing.

“Don’t be a prat,” Henry says weakly. “Touch me, need to feel you —”

He breaks off into a moan when Alex pushes a finger into him. He’s tight, the muscles squeezing around his one finger, and Alex pulls his finger back just to thrust it back in, trying to stretch him thoroughly but quickly.

“Tell me when,” he mutters, pressing a kiss to the inside of his knee, crooking his finger, trying to find that sweet spot that will make Henry fall apart.

“Now. Christ,” Henry moans, sounded wrecked, so wrecked already.

Alex slides another lubed-up finger next to the first one and pushes back in. He keeps up the short, quick thrusts, and soon enough Henry is moving his hips with him, trying to get his fingers deeper, harder. He fists Alex’s hair and pulls him in, kissing him passionately. “Try — try aiming up —” he pants against his mouth. “Oh, _fuck,_ Christ.”

“Like this?” Alex asks, nipping his bottom lip. He changes the angle, crooking the tips of his fingers in every direction, and then he pushes in one spot that makes Henry freeze up.

“Found it,” Alex laughs. Their noses slide together as Henry chuckles breathlessly in response. He pushes a third finger in, rubbing against his prostate relentlessly. Henry is moaning into their kisses, trying to grind down on his hand while simultaneously trying to buck his hips up to feel some friction on his cock. Alex’s chest constricts with every touch, every kiss, every thrust. Henry looks so beautiful, so goddamn gorgeous. It’s maddening.

Henry wraps his hand around his wrist, dragging his fingers out of him, breaking him out of his trance. “If you keep doing that, I’ll come,” he says almost regretfully.

Alex nods. “Yeah.” Then, “Oh, motherfucker,” when Henry wraps a hand around Alex’s neglected dick. He thumbs over the head, wetting his finger with precome, uses his other hand to touch his balls. Alex groans, gripping Henry’s hips with surprising strength as he thrusts into Henry’s fist. “Not fair,” he gasps. Henry grins wickedly at him.

He blindly gropes for the condom, snatching it up and bringing it to his mouth to tear the wrapper open with his teeth. This act effectively halts Henry’s movements, and he locks eyes with Alex, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his eyes wide and unyielding.

Alex rolls the condom on, then pours some lube onto his palm and spreads it over his length. He grabs Henry’s hips again and pulls him down on the bed. They both groan when their hips meet. Alex thinks he’s going to lose it if he isn’t inside Henry in the next ten seconds.

He spreads Henry’s legs wider, then stops. He seems to fully take in Henry for the first time. His blond hair, splayed out over the pillow. His eyes, pupils blown so wide that he can barely see the gorgeous blue irises. His lips bitten red, his collarbone and hollow of his throat decorated with perspiration, the taut muscles of his chest, abdomen, thighs, his flushed cock curving heavily against his stomach. All for him. _Only_ for him.

“You look good,” he mumbles, squeezing at Henry’s thighs. “You look so good, baby.”

And Henry fucking _melts_ at that. His eyes flutter shut as a low moan escapes his throat. Alex stares at him in amazement, wondering what he did to cause a reaction like that. Then it hits him.

“Baby,” he says again, cupping Henry’s face with one hand. Henry nods too much. Leans into his touch. “It’s okay. I’m right here.” He strokes his cheek with his thumb until Henry opens his eyes. “Hey. It’s just me.”

Henry nods again. He grabs his cock and guides it to his stretched hole. “In me,” he says quietly, moaning when Alex adds pressure. “Please, need you.”

Alex laughs quietly. “Yeah, me too,” he says.

He slides his hands under Henry’s thighs and wraps his legs around his waist. He feels the firm pressure of Henry’s heels digging into his lower back, urging him forward, leaving no choice for Alex but to push into him. And so he does.

It’s an easy slide, but so, so intense. Alex gasps as Henry’s heat engulfs him fully. He’s tight, so fucking tight, overwhelming him, making him cry out. Henry groans — he looks straight at him, eyes boring into his, and he groans. His muscles squeeze around every inch of him, so hot, his balls aching already, and they’ve barely even started, but Alex feels like he could come with one thrust.

He drops his head onto Henry’s shoulder. “God, it’s —”

“Yeah,” Henry says, his voice rough. That helps. Knowing that this is just as intense for Henry, it helps.

When he feels like he can move without instantly coming, he starts to work his hips, pulling out halfway and thrusting in again. Henry moves with him, so desperate, already so desperate for him, and it’s so hot that Alex can’t fucking stand it. He curls his fingers into Henry’s locks and kisses him, licking against the roof of his mouth with a frenzied urgency that he’s never felt with anyone before. But Henry feels it too, he must be, because he falls into it just as easily as Alex does. Fuck, maybe that’s why all of his senses feel so heightened. Because Henry needs it just as much as he does.

“Henry. Jesus,” he manages. Their bodies are falling together now, finding a rhythm that’s good for them both, and Alex takes it as a sign to pick up the pace. He pushes harder into him, relishing in the way Henry moans with each thrust, how he says his name, a slurred plea of, _“Alex, Alex, Alex,”_ like it’s too much for him, like the pleasure is just too good.

Their foreheads press together, lips touching every once in a while because they’re too consumed by the pleasure to focus on anything else. Alex moves faster, and Henry slams down to meet him. He can feel his orgasm starting to build up inside him. He’s not going to let himself come before Henry gets off, though, and he remembers what Henry said before, about aiming up. He shifts his hips, pounding into him once more, twice, and then Henry’s entire body convulses when he hits his prostate. His hands grasp onto his shoulders, nails drag down his back, and Alex keeps thrusting, chasing his quickly building orgasm, moving his hand to grab Henry’s hard dick, _fuck,_ he’s so hard, precome dripping from the tip and rolling down the shaft. Henry’s moans get louder when he touches him, and Alex didn’t know that was even possible, but he revels in it, matches his strokes with the snapping of his hips until Henry is a writhing, whimpering mess under him.

“Close, so close,” Henry manages to say, burying his face in the crook of Alex’s neck, lips ghosting every bit of skin he can reach, the underside of his jaw, the sensitive spot behind his ear.

“Fuck, me too.” Alex feels his thrusts start to go sloppy, a telltale sign that his orgasm is just under the surface. He grips Henry’s cock tighter, slams into him faster. “You’re gorgeous, baby, you feel so fucking good, God, you’re fucking perfect —”

Henry moans wantonly, and then his body freezes up, coming to a still. His cock twitches in Alex’s hand as he comes, his muscles squeezing around Alex’s dick so tight, but Alex just bites down on his lip and fucks him through it, toes curling as streaks of Henry’s come hits their stomachs, drips down his fist. Henry is breathing heavily in his ear, a fucking sexy sound, and then he _laughs,_ and when he turns his head and presses his soft lips to the spot where his jaw and ear meet, Alex loses it. He groans loudly, pushes into Henry and comes. Pleasure washes all over him, so intense that he shivers, but he guts through it, rides out his orgasm until his hips slow to a stop. He’s boneless, so fucked out he can hardly think. The only thing he can focus on are Henry’s strong hands on his back, caressing; Henry’s sticky skin underneath him.

His arms give out and he collapses on top of Henry. His cheek presses against his chest and he’s sweaty but he doesn’t care, and Henry smells fucking _wonderful,_ and all Alex wants to do is curl up next to Henry and trade slow, soft kisses with him until they regain their energy, then he’ll push his legs open again and take him for a second time, and when they’re finished, Alex will crawl under the covers next to him and hold him until they fall asleep, blissful and content.

But. But this is a summer camp. And the bunks are so small anyway; there’s no way the two of them can manage to fit side-by-side in there. And the campers will be back in less than two hours. Fuck.

“What are you thinking about?” Henry whispers.

There’s about a thousand things swimming through Alex’s mind right now. None of which he can tell Henry, of course. Some things he doesn’t even want to admit to himself.

“Just how amazing that was,” he says instead, a significant tremble still evident in his voice. He clears his throat. “How amazing you were.”

Henry kisses the top of his head, and it’s so soft and loving that Alex wants to scream. “Yeah,” he agrees quietly. “That was nothing — _nothing_ like I thought —”

He trails off, leaves it at that. And Alex understands.

So maybe, he thinks three days later, having sex with Henry was a mistake. A wonderful, glorious mistake that he very much wants to do again. Because it’s impossible now; it’s impossible to look at Henry and not be reminded of how he looked underneath him. Memories of his parted lips and blown pupils when he pushed into him, his pink-tinged cheeks, the feel of his cock in his hand, hot and heavy and leaking precome haunt him at all hours of the day, when he leads his campers in a game of 9 Square in the Air and Henry waves when he passes by, when Henry brushes up against him in the dining hall, when he lays awake in his bunk in the middle of the night, unable to think of anything else.

The sex in itself isn’t the problem. No, not in the slightest. The problem is what it _meant_ for him, what he hopes it meant for Henry as well. All the cards are laid down, all his feelings are poured out, and he’s still left wanting more. He wants more of Henry. _All_ of him. Not just the Henry he sees at summer camp — he wants to know the gritty details, all the baggage he carries. What his hair looks like when he first wakes up in the morning. The things that make him shut down. If he prefers to shower in the morning or at night. The weight he carries on his shoulders from years of pressure from his family. He wants to know it all.

And that thought is terrifying. Because not even four weeks ago, just twenty-six short days ago, he was convinced that Henry hated him. They yelled at each other, they pushed each other’s limits, and they threw each other in the lake. They were competitive, too stubborn for their own good. But they worked.

Now, they do more than just work. They’re _good._ Alex doesn’t know why it took him so long to realize.

But all that’s going to do is make the goodbye even more painful.

“Last weekend of camp,” June says offhandedly to him as they’re cleaning up the arts and crafts table. “Feels like it went by fast, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Alex mumbles, not meeting her eyes. He’s been avoiding thinking about the end of camp as much as possible.

“You ready to kick ass at capture the flag tomorrow? My kids keep trying to bribe us into telling them where we hide our flag. Nora’s already got some ideas jotted down, I think we have a good chance of winning again this year.”

“Uh-huh.”

The sound of June rinsing out paint containers stops. Alex looks up. She meets his gaze with narrowed eyes. “Are you doing okay?” she asks, the concern already evident in her voice. “You love capture the flag. You usually never shut up about it.”

“This isn’t about capture the flag,” Alex says quickly. A little too quickly. He cringes, rubbing his face with one hand. “Shit. It’s — well, it’s more about —”

“Henry?” June offers quietly.

“Um.” Alex clears his throat. “A little. Yeah.”

June sighs, then hoists herself onto the counter next to the sink. She looks at Alex expectantly. Waiting.

Alex has gotten to know the many sides of June over the twenty-two years of his life. At first he has Older Sister June, who played Legos with him when they were kids and helped him learn his multiplication tables and blamed him for breaking the kitchen plate when she was the one who actually broke it. Then there's Best Friend June, who picked him up after his first day of freshman year and drive him to Waffle House for dinner, her treat, and snuck him into clubs when he was seventeen and visited him at college and laughed drunkenly together when taking body shots off of Nora. There's Journalist June, whose eyes lit up every time she talked about her upcoming internship or the new story she was following; Zodiac June, who carried crystals in her bag and refused to date anyone who was a Capricorn; Camp Counselor June, who hung out with her campers because she genuinely wanted to and jumped off the falls with a child-like excitement because that’s who she really is at the core.

Right now, she’s being Older Sister June. And Older Sister June is exactly what Alex needs.

“Talk to me.”

“I just — I don’t _know,”_ Alex groans. “That’s the problem. Because he’s — he’s amazing, June. He texts me good morning and bitches about plot holes in Harry Potter and his smile is so fucking pretty and _I don’t know_ , and I need to, I need to know what it _means.”_ He takes a breath. “For me.”

June blinks. “Wow,” she says. “You… you really like him, don’t you?”

Alex nods, just barely, wrapping his arms around his midsection and sinking into himself.

“Huh. I thought this was, y’know. A summer fling.”

“That’s what it was supposed to be,” Alex says quietly. “But I don’t think I want that anymore.”

“Well, it’s — it’s not impossible,” June stammers, her face twisted up in a form of concentration that Alex only sees when she really, truly cares about something. “But long distance is hard. It didn’t work for Evan and me, remember? But it might be different for you two, if long distance is really all you know —”

“He’s going to NYU,” Alex cuts in. “In case you didn’t know.”

“Oh. Well…” June trails off, looking pensive. “That’s different.”

“Good different or bad different?” Alex hears himself ask.

“However you want to see it.”

Alex is silent for a moment. “I think it’s good,” he finally says. “I’ve never seen him outside of camp. Maybe he’s a completely different person; I don’t know. But I like who he is now. Enough to want to know what else he’s like.”

June stares at him, incredulous. “Have you told him all this?”

“Uh. Should I have?”

She groans, dropping her face in her hands. _“Men._ Jesus Christ.” She peeks at him through her fingers. “Of course you should! There’s no way to know if he feels the same if you don’t say anything. And you know you’ll feel better after talking to him. It does you no good keeping all your feelings bottled up.”

“Right,” Alex mutters. Because when he bottles those feelings up, the bottle starts to shake. And when the bottle shakes, it will explode. The last time it exploded, he kissed Henry and didn’t speak to him for two days. He isn’t afforded the liberty of time now; they barely have two days left as it is. He can’t let another explosion happen.

“I just keep thinking… y’know, what if? What if we continue this in school, and he realizes that he doesn’t like me? Then we come back to camp, and things are even worse between us than before. Or what if we don’t do anything? Then I run into him at school, or maybe not, it’s a fucking big campus, and if I don’t, then I’ll see him here next summer, and… and I don’t know. There’s so many different possibilities and I don’t know which one to focus on.”

“Alex,” June says slowly, “you need to talk to him about this. You’ll regret it if you don’t. You know that.”

Alex sighs. “Yeah. I know.”

“Hey.” June slides off the counter and moves towards him, pulling him into a hug. Alex melts into it, holding her back tightly, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. “You’re gonna be fine. Whatever happens, you’re gonna be fine. But based on what you told me…” She pauses, and Alex holds his breath. “I think you want to go for the option that makes you feel more than fine.”

More than fine. What a concept.

He hugs her tighter and whispers, “I think I do, too.”

Hours later, when the lights are off and Alex is lying in his bunk, he realizes that his window of opportunity is growing smaller and smaller as more time passes by. And that’s important, time, because it will soon run out. The summer will end, they’ll pack up their stuff and leave, and… and then what?

He’s been silently spiraling ever since his conversation with June. Thinking up every possible scenario where he and Henry are together, every scenario where they’re not. Trying to imagine what Henry would want, and if that would oppose what _he_ wants, or if they would want the same thing. He tries to read it through Henry’s expressions, the way he smiles at him, the long glances that he feels trained after him. Wonders if it’s a glance only lovers share, or if it’s a type filled with grief and longing, the knowledge that you’ll be seeing this person for the last time always at the front of your mind.

He needs to talk to him. June told him so earlier, but he didn’t fully realize the importance of it. Because it’s currently one in the morning, the start of the last full day of camp, and time is running out. It’s starting to hit him just now, the urgency creeping into his bones, and he figures, well. There’s no time like the present.

He has his phone in his hand and is typing out a message before he even registers doing so.

 **Alex  
**you up for a swim?

Henry’s reply comes minutes later.

 **Henry💩🪥🍞⚽️🌟🐴🥤🇬🇧❤️  
**With you, always.

He’s already at the dock by the time Alex walks up, a worn-looking cardigan thrown over his sleep shirt and boxers and a towel already laid down in the sand. He has an amused little smile on his face and cocks his head to the side when Alex walks right up to him, immediately wrapping his arms around his waist. “Someone’s up late,” he says softly, cupping Alex’s jaw in his hands.

“I could say the same to you.” Alex tilts his head up and meets Henry’s lips in a kiss, simply because he can’t not kiss him. It’s short and sweet, much like their first kiss under the fireworks, less impassioned and more affectionate. Alex falls right into it.

“I figured you would want to talk,” Henry explains when they break apart, his nose sliding against his. “You’ve been acting a bit… distant, I must say.” He strokes along his jaw with his thumbs, brow furrowing in concern. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah,” Alex nods quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. “Just wanted to see you, I guess.”

Henry stares at him, and for a second Alex thinks he’s able to see right through him, but then the corners of Henry’s lips curve up and he gives a small nod. “That’s awfully kind of you.”

“You’re lucky, Wales, I don’t say that to all the boys and girls.” Alex manages to cover up the brutal honesty of his statement with a cheeky smirk, making Henry laugh quietly. He shrugs his towel off his shoulder, throws it down next to Henry's. He pulls his undershirt off next and doesn’t miss the way Henry’s eyes immediately drop to his toned chest. “Now, I think I asked you for a swim?”

“Correct,” Henry says, sounding slightly strangled when Alex drops his boxers and stands there in all his naked glory. Alex grins, reaching up to kiss his lips again, more filthy this time, just barely licking his tongue into his mouth before he slides out of Henry’s arms and runs towards the edge of the dock. He jumps off with a whoop, twisting around in midair so the last thing he sees before falling into the water is Henry’s stupid grin on his face.

By the time he resurfaces, Henry has stripped out of his clothes and dives into the lake. Alex splashes water in his direction when his head pops back up. “What are you, a professional diver? Stop being so goddamn good at everything.”

“You're too kind,” Henry teases, swimming closer to him. “Although I will race you to the buoy out there.” He jerks his head towards the buoy floating in the water some twenty feet past the roped-in area. “Loser has to do anything the winner wants?”

“Oh, you’re _on.”_

He splashes Henry once more for good measure, then takes off towards the buoy. Henry laughs as he chases after him. They pull on each other’s legs to try to slow the other down, kick water in each other’s direction, anything they can to cheat and win. Henry effectively gains the lead when they swim under the rope and a clump of weeds brushes against Alex’s leg, making him yelp and thrash around. He touches the buoy first, shining him a dazzling white smile in the night.

“Not fair,” Alex mumbles when he catches up to him. “That seaweed personally had it out for me.”

“Did it now?” Henry says back. “Well, a bet’s a bet. Perhaps the weeds were on my side.”

“You’re joking, but I bet they fucking were.” Alex rolls his eyes. “All right. What are you gonna put me up to?”

Henry flashes him a small smile. “This way,” he says, pushing off from the buoy and starting back to the main shore. “Don’t want to trouble you, with weeds floating around and all. They might be conspiring against you again.”

“Hey, anyone who doesn’t freak out when a weed touches them is a psychopath,” Alex calls after him. “Which, now that I think about it, is actually quite fitting for you.” This earns him another kick of water in his face.

They swim in far enough where they can stand upright, the small waves lapping lazily at their shoulders. Henry gets right next to him and slides his hands underneath Alex’s thighs. He gets the hint and lets Henry pull him flush to his body, wrapping his legs around his waist and curling his arms around his neck. He’s weightless in the water, and he and Henry are so close that he can feel his hot breath against his lips. He strokes one hand through Henry’s wet hair. “You’re right, I lost. What do you have for me?”

“I want,” Henry says quietly, brushing their lips together, “for you to tell me what’s really troubling you.”

Alex’s stomach drops. Has he really been that obvious, or is Henry already an expert at reading him? For his sake, he hopes it’s the former — but the way Henry looks at him is so tender, so compassionate, that Alex wouldn’t be surprised if Henry could see straight into his soul. He draws back slightly.

“I can tell it’s been on your mind for quite some time,” Henry continues.

A sigh slips from Alex’s lips. “I’ve just been thinking about us,” he says slowly, “and what we want to be after camp is over.”

Henry keeps quiet, so Alex continues on. “These last few weeks have been… amazing, to say the least. Even before we started hooking up. I still can’t believe I spent the last three summers thinking you hated me when you really…” he trails off. “I don’t know. My point is, I like you. A lot. And I know we said casual sex at the start of this, and don’t get me wrong, I love it, but — but lately I’ve been thinking, um.” He pauses. “What if… what if we tried to be something more?”

Henry blinks. “More?” he repeats, his voice slightly higher than usual.

Alex nods. “Yeah. And I know you’ll be staying in New York and I’ll be back in Texas, but that’s only for a month, and then we’ll be at NYU, and… and we can see each other again.” He bites on his lip. “I mean. Y’know. If that’s something you would want to do.”

“Of course I want to see you,” Henry says quickly. “I just. Well.” He coughs. “What do you mean by 'something more?'”

The water ripples around their intertwined bodies peacefully. There’s a warm breeze blowing softly through the air, and the low buzz of cicadas is a pleasant hum in his ears. It’s a beautiful night. Almost too beautiful to be having a conversation like this. Almost.

“That’s the thing,” Alex says softly. He has no idea where Henry is going with this, where Henry wants _him_ to go with this. “I’m not entirely sure. What I am sure about is that I want to keep seeing you. If it’s still casual like this, fine. I’m good with that. But I would really like it if it was more than just that. Something serious.”

“Like a boyfriend?” Henry breathes, so quietly that Alex barely hears it over the small waves.

“Yeah,” he whispers back. He slides his hand down from where it was still curled in Henry’s hair to cup the back of his neck. “Like a boyfriend. But only if you want that, too.”

Henry leans forward, resting his forehead against Alex’s. A happy laugh escapes him, all lighthearted and full of relief, and it makes Alex’s stomach erupt with butterflies. “Yes, I want that,” he whispers. “I’ve been wanting that since I first saw you.”

The confession makes Alex’s head spin.

“Mark your calendar, baby,” Alex says, grinning wildly. “I’m taking you out on a date in a month. And if that goes well, then —”

“Then you’re mine,” Henry finishes for him, closing the minuscule distance between them and kissing him hard. “All mine.”

And it feels good, so so good, knowing where they stand. Knowing that what he wants is also what Henry wants. Even though it’s still terrifying, it’s less so with Henry by his side. A different kind of terrifying. Less of an impulsive jump down a bottomless pit, determined to catch a glimpse of everything that could be, more of a hand-in-hand exploration where they can take their time, move from one thing to the next because they both want this, and they’re both willing to sacrifice some time to make sure it works. To make sure _they_ work.

The kiss quickly becomes more heated, and Alex soon finds himself half-hard, not-so-subtly rolling his hips against Henry’s abdomen. Henry isn’t playing innocent, either — his hands, originally cupped underneath his thighs to keep him held up, have now made their way to the curve of Alex’s ass, squeezing the flesh there, groaning against his mouth. The kiss is full of want and desire and something new bubbling inside them both that Alex can’t quite place yet, but he likes the feeling, and he tugs Henry closer to him and kisses him twice as hard.

“I don’t suppose you brought anything with you?” Alex pants when Henry’s mouth drops to nip and kiss at his neck.

Henry chuckles against the hollow of his throat, sending vibrations all throughout Alex’s body. “As a matter of fact…”

“Oh my God,” Alex groans. He tangles his fingers in Henry’s hair and drags his head up to look at him again. “You’re such a bastard, you know that, right? You’re insufferable, you’re beautiful, you’re —”

“Are you seriously upset that I was smart enough to bring a condom and lube with me?” Henry laughs.

“Definitely not.” Alex kisses him again. “Just in awe.”

“In awe of what?” Henry groans against his mouth.

“That you’re kind of perfect for me.”

With that, Henry hauls him closer to his chest and starts walking up towards the shore. Even though he weighs next to nothing in the water, Alex thinks, his head spinning, it’s still extremely hot that Henry can carry him. He sucks on his earlobe to further emphasize his point.

Henry carries him until he can’t support his weight anymore, and they both rush to their towels laid out in the sand. Alex pulls Henry on top of him, laughing into the kiss, moaning when Henry takes his cock in his hand and strokes him. His skin is cold from the lake water but Henry’s mouth is warm and feels like home. He shivers every time Henry presses a kiss to his chest, his solar plexus, the inside of his wrist.

He groans when Henry makes his way back to his neck, tangling his fingers in his damp hair to keep him in place as his mouth moves warmly against his skin. The only light shining on them comes from the moon, reflecting bright off the water’s surface, and the millions of stars above them, twinkling peacefully. Alex searches the sky until his eyes land on his new favorite constellation.

“Good ol’ Orion,” he murmurs.

Henry pulls away just enough to twist his head to stare at the stars. “Ever the fighter,” he says softly. He laughs warmly. “And I suppose that’s your trusty line constellation there, is it not?”

“What? No, the line constellation is over there.” Alex points to a stretch of stars to the right of Orion. “Obviously.”

“Yes, so obvious,” Henry huffs.

“That one,” Alex says, focusing back on the stars that Henry pointed out, “often gets mistaken for the line constellation. But if you look harder, you can see that it starts to curve up there… and then there’s some clumps of stars at the bottom… that one’s actually the penis constellation.”

Henry laughs into his neck. “My sincerest apologies,” he says between giggles. “I shall never mistake one for the other as long as I live.”

“You better not,” Alex muses, turning his head and capturing Henry’s lips in another kiss. He opens his mouth, moaning when their tongues meet. Henry presses closer to him, chest on chest, knees knocking together, hips meeting. Their cocks slide together, wet and hot. Fuck. Henry is hard, just as hard as he is. Fuck, _fuck._

“Remember when,” Alex pants between kisses, too desperate to pull away, “when I said I was fine either way? Because I’m thinking you should fuck me this time.”

Henry’s kisses, if possible, seem to get even more frantic. “Fuck,” he moans. He nods against his lips. “That can be arranged.”

He reaches for his discarded cardigan, pulling out a condom and lube from its large pocket, lips never leaving Alex. Their hips grind together, so desperate, so desperate already, and it’s so good, the way Henry touches him. It’s a delicate feel, as if he’s afraid he’ll break him if he presses any harder. He’s never been touched this way by anyone before. It’s intoxicating.

And it’s so much different than the last time they did this, Alex thinks as Henry pushes a lubed-up finger into him, slowly starting to thrust in and out. Maybe it’s because he’s letting himself get fucked this time, something that he usually doesn’t do with guys until well into a serious relationship, because he’s always had this need to hold some sort of control over his life, the bedroom included, and most times, bottoming always meant giving up that control. What’s more, giving it up to someone else for them to do what they please. It’s different with Henry, though. It doesn’t feel like a power imbalance with him. It feels shared; a mutual exploration of each other’s bodies. Like he can trust him enough already to hand over a part of him and know that Henry will keep it safe.

Or maybe it’s because of their promise for the future, knowing that they crave the same thing. Alex can already imagine it. He can already fall into that fantasy of what they might be able to have. Coffee dates on campus. 2AM study sessions. Meeting up with mutual friends at bars during the weekends. Normal, everyday things you would do with someone you care for. And in a month, he’ll be able to get that. God, a month. It’s so far away.

But now isn’t the time to ponder the length of time spent apart, not when Henry has three fingers inside of him and fucking him in earnest. He’s a gasping, moaning mess beneath him, biting on the back of his own hand to try to stifle the sounds he’s making. He doesn’t think it can get any better, and then Henry is rolling on the condom and slicking himself up with lube and slowly, _slowly_ pushing into him.

He groans, hand falling on the towel next to his head as his mouth drops open. Henry doesn’t stop, moaning quietly as he splits him open, until he’s buried all the way. Henry looks just as lost in it as he feels. Fuck. He can’t believe this feels so good for both of them, that they turn each other on this much.

After a few moments to adjust, he kisses Henry’s chin, a silent plead to start moving. Henry nods, presses his forehead against Alex’s, and then he pulls out. The slick drag of Henry’s cock inside of him is better than anything he can imagine. He pushes in again, slowly, all too slowly. Fucking tease.

“Harder,” Alex manages, and Henry complies, snapping his hips with the next thrust. His mouth drops open. “Oh God. Fuck, again.”

“Alex,” Henry breathes, his face flushed with pleasure. He drags his cock out only to thrust back in again. “Christ. You don’t know how good you feel right now.”

“You too,” Alex gasps, which quickly turns into a moan when Henry lifts his leg over his shoulder, finding a better angle to fuck into. “God, baby, just like that.”

Even if it’s just as pleasurable as the first time they did this, there’s a different aura to it. Lighter. More carefree. As if they have nowhere to go after this.

Henry keeps his thrusts slow but deep, making sure Alex feels every inch of his hard cock inside him. It’s so fucking intense that he can’t think. He’s lost in the pleasure, only able to focus on the feel of Henry’s hips slamming against his ass, the way his shoulders cover his, the soft kisses Henry leaves down his neck and the side of his face. His body moves with Henry’s thrusts on its own accord. He’s no longer in control, he’s given it all to Henry, and for the first time it feels so _freeing,_ feels like he can lie there and melt into the sand and not have to worry about anything else ever again.

Henry shifts, and his cock hits his prostate when he pushes in. Alex throws his head back and moans. Henry chases that spot, slamming into him again and again and again, and it soon becomes too much to handle. His leg tightens around Henry’s shoulder, his hand pushes through his hair, dragging him down for another sloppy kiss, all tongue and teeth and filthy noises coming deep from their chests. He’s not going to make it much longer, not with the agonizing slide of Henry’s cock mixed with his deep kisses and hushed moans. Henry completely encompasses him. It feels wonderful.

“Love,” Henry pants, kissing the corner of his mouth, “I’m not going to last —”

“It’s okay,” Alex says back. He’s on the edge of his orgasm as well, can feel it bubbling inside him. He smiles against his lips. “I’m not, either. You feel too good — _fuck_ —” He cries out when Henry grinds against his prostate. “C’mon, fuck me, yeah, just like that —”

“Fuck, fuck,” Henry pants, his cheek pressed against his. He reaches down, takes Alex’s cock in his hand, strokes it in time with his thrusts, and when his teeth graze the sensitive spot behind his ear, it pushes him over the edge. He moans loudly, streaks of come erupting from his cock and dripping down Henry’s fist, onto his stomach, and Henry continues to fuck him through it, gravelly “ah” sounds escaping from his lips, and when Alex clenches around him, Henry’s entire body seizes up and he comes. He pushes into him deep, still coming, hips still moving, and his mouth finds Alex’s in the dark, their tongues dancing around each other, tugging each other so close like their goal is to merge together as one. Then Henry laughs, light and airy, and Alex’s heart flips in his chest like it does every time Henry laughs when he comes.

They’re making out feverishly as they come down, Henry slipping out of him, making Alex’s muscles feel sore and empty. He lowers his leg that’s still thrown over Henry’s shoulder and hisses at the trickle of pain that shoots down his back. A good pain. One with good memories attached. Some of the best.

“You’re beautiful,” Alex whispers to Henry. They tangle together further, limbs so intertwined that it’s hard to tell whose is whose. “You’re so goddamn beautiful, baby. I can’t wait to take you out. Fuck.” He kisses him harder. “You’re not gonna be able to get enough of me after.”

“Who says I can’t already?” Henry breathes out.

They stay out on the beach for at least another hour, kissing and talking and kissing again, and soon they regrettably throw on their clothes and make their way back to the cabins, hand in hand. Alex pulls him flush against his body before he goes inside, kisses Henry goodnight long and messy, laughing into it, pressing his palms to his cheeks and holding him in place, and then they disappear into their cabins, and Alex feels perfectly content for the first time in a long while. He figures it's probably an effect of Henry, and he rather likes the feeling, so, he decides as he falls back into bed, he just has to hang on to Henry as long as he can.


	8. Year-Round Summer, Part II

It’s different, seeing Henry the next morning. Different because Alex no longer looks over at him and sees the tense-looking boy who looked like he had no idea what he was doing at a summer camp. No longer sees his rival, his maybe-sort-of-kinda-friend that he definitely didn’t have repressed feelings for, the guy he made out with once and then promptly ran away from, his friend with benefits. No, he sees Henry. Beautiful, inexplicable, kind Henry.

And it’s so refreshing to be able to see him in this light. What’s more, knowing that Henry sees him in the same way. It shows, too — when Henry passes by his table at breakfast and hands him his tea to try, a cup of oolong this time. When his hand lingers a little longer than usual on his shoulder. When he smiles at him, close-lipped and full of affection, and his bright blue eyes are so softhearted.

After breakfast comes the final group activity to end the summer: capture the flag. They do this every year, dividing the campground into three sections, one for the counselors, the older kids, and younger kids. This summer, the counselors’ territory stretches from the field near the girls’ cabins to the edge of the lake. Plenty of trees and mounds to hide their flag. The eleven of them huddle around in a circle, their heads in, their voices hushed.

“Listen up,” Zahra starts, gripping the bright purple flag in her hand, “I am _not_ losing today. We’ve been on a six year winning streak and I’ll be damned if we don’t bump up that title to seven. Am I clear?”

“Your wife gets scary during capture the flag,” Alex mutters to Shaan.

“You want to see me scary, Diaz? Keep running your goddamn mouth and I’ll show you scary. Now I want to hear ideas. We’ve got five minutes to hide this thing and make a kickass battle plan before we meet at the center line.” She snaps her fingers expectantly. “Go.”

“We could hide it behind the soccer nets,” Amy suggests.

“We did that two years ago, the older kids will find it in two seconds,” Cash retaliates. “I say we put it near the lake shed. Some of the kids don’t even know it exists.”

Henry coughs, so quietly that only Alex hears him. He tries his best to fight off a smile.

“No, at least half of the flag has to be visible, remember?” June pipes up. “Look, last year we hid it between our cabin and Amy’s. It took them forever to find it. We need to do something like that again. Far back and well hidden.”

“Good start,” Zahra nods. “Any specific places?”

“The trees,” Alex suddenly says. “Like, the ones right on the edge of the woods. There’s gotta be a hollow or something on one of them, right? And the ones right up front are short. Definitely in reach for a fourteen-year-old.”

“Nora?” Zahra is already asking, spinning her head to stare at her.

“Eighty-eight percent chance that Alex is right,” she says, almost as if reciting from a textbook. “They might have to climb a bit, but definitely within reach. And within the rules.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Zahra passes her the flag and she and Pez take off for the edge of the woods. “For the rest of you, same strategy as previous years. You four,” she says, pointing at Alex, Henry, June, and Liam, “plus Nora and Pez will be on offense. The rest of us will stay back and catch those little fuckers. Jail will be by the oak tree between the lake and the hill, as usual. Everyone on board?” They all nod, and she claps her hands together. “Of course you are. Best goddamn staff I’ve ever had. Break.”

Nora and Pez meet them at the edge of their territory, slightly out of breath. “Just as you said,” Nora says to Alex. “A tree hollow about eight feet up. It’s got some branches to climb on but it won’t be easy.” She jumps up and down, shaking out her arms. “I’m so fucking ready to beat their asses. This girl Nadia, she hasn’t stopped talking about this since last week. Going on and on about how they’ve got something we’ll never see coming. Can’t wait to prove her wrong.”

“Should we be worried?” Henry asks. “I’ve overheard some of our kids talking along the same lines.”

“Nah, you heard Zahra,” Alex assures. “We’ve been winning this thing for six years. It’s probably just a scare tactic, that’s all.”

An air horn sounds in the distance, signaling the start of the game. He immediately turns to the rest of the group. “Same as last year?”

He’s met with a series of nods in response. “Pez and I will take the older kids’ territory,” June says. “We might have a lead where their flag is already. Apparently their kids like to brag about their hiding spots.” She jerks her head towards Pez and Henry.

“Perfect,” Alex rushes out. “Okay, you three start there, we’ll head over to where the little kids are. See if we can find anything. Meet back here in ten?”

They split up, Henry, Pez, and June going one direction while Alex, Nora, and Liam head for the other. Alex and Nora silently step into the younger campers’ territory, which stretches from the canteen to the gaga pit in the center of the cabins, while Liam stays behind at the division. It’s the same tactic that’s been keeping their winning streak — two people sneaking around the opposing side, the other hanging back in case they need backup. He and Nora crouch behind the side of the canteen, peeking their heads out every once in a while to search for the flag. There’s a few kids standing guard in front of the canteen. They don’t seem to notice the two of them, however.

“Bet you anything it’s in the pit,” he mumbles to Nora.

“It does seem to be a recurring pattern,” she whispers back. “You wanna check?”

“Sure. I’ll come get you after, okay? Where’s their jail, anyway?”

“Near the back entrance of the dining hall. And be quick, I can run fast, but they run on pure fucking adrenaline. They’ll catch me eventually.”

“Noted. Thanks for your sacrifice.”

She bows at him, then jumps out from their hiding place, running past the three girls with a loud whoop. They let out screams of delight and rush after her. Alex waits a few moments, then backtracks until he gets Liam’s attention. He jogs over to Alex and they set off for the gaga pit.

“Nora’s got them distracted,” he tells Liam as they duck under a nearby tree as more campers pass by. “We think they hid it in the pit. It’s usually their go-to, isn’t it?”

“Definitely,” Liam mutters back. When they deem the campers to be a safe enough distance away, they slip out from under the tree and run down the gravel walkway that leads to the gaga pit. With an uneasy feeling, Alex notices that there’s barely any kids in this area. None, in fact. Either Nora did a fantastic job as a distraction, or this place isn’t being guarded because there’s nothing to protect. He’s much leaning towards the latter.

They make it to the pit with ease and hop inside. Not a flag in sight. “Shit,” Alex curses under his breath. “They’re getting smarter.”

“Not so fast,” Liam breathes, pointing at a spot behind Alex. He turns around. A cluster of cabins is down the path and over a hill, and there it is, just as Liam pointed out — a streak of red on the roof of Shaan’s cabin that can only be the flag.

Alex blinks. “How the fuck are we supposed to get that?” he asks. “Hold on, how did _they_ get it up there? They’re tiny!”

“No time to think about that,” Liam says. “There’s probably a dozen of them down there. I don’t think we can get past with just the two of us. Should we regroup?”

“Yeah. We need to grab Nora first, though.”

They slowly but surely make their way to the back of the dining hall where Nora is thrown in jail (in reality, she’s crouched inside a hula hoop, grinning), running into a bit of a pickle when the two boys guarding the jail chase after them. But Alex wasn’t the captain of his high school’s lacrosse team for nothing, and he eventually evades the two boys, grabbing onto Nora’s hand and then Liam’s, the three of them now safe from being tagged but forced to return back to their territory. They rush back to their meeting spot. Henry, Pez, and June aren’t there yet, so Alex tells Nora about the flag to pass the time. She stares at him, perplexed.

“How the _fuck_ —”

“We already went there, don’t bother,” Liam mutters, kicking at a rock in the grass.

“Shit, this is gonna be a six-person job,” Nora says just as the rustle of grass sounds from behind her. “Oh, good.”

But only June and Henry emerge into the clearing, noticeably Pez-less. “We lost him,” June says regrettably. “Your lookalike tagged him just before we hopped over the division line. The tip was a bust, anyway. Nowhere near the firepit.”

“Damn you, Mini Me,” Alex mutters. “Of course he’s a god at this game.”

“Well, the good news is that we know where the other flag is,” Liam pipes up. “The bad news is that it’s on the fucking roof. We’re definitely going to need Pez to get it, if not some of the others. They’ve got the cabin surrounded on top of all that.”

June curses. “Fine. Let’s go back, figure out a way to rescue Pez, and get a plan going. They’re not supposed to be _good_ at capture the flag, goddammit!”

Henry’s hand brushes against his as they walk back to the field where the rest of counselors are. He grins at Alex when their eyes meet, and it takes all the willpower in the world to not drag Henry further into the trees and have him right then and there.

Perhaps Henry can see the look in his eye, because he chuckles and says to him under his breath, “You look rather antsy.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Maybe it’s because you look goddamn gorgeous today. Did you ever think of that?” he mutters back, not missing the way a faint blush rises to Henry’s cheeks. He thinks Henry looks fucking beautiful every day, but, well. He’s not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

Henry still tangles their fingers together as they duck under a tree branch. “Thank you,” he says softly. “So do you. You always look good.”

Huh. Never mind, then. Maybe he doesn’t have to keep that confession only to himself.

There’s a handful of campers trapped in jail when they walk out of the trees, much to Alex’s delight. They all high-five Raf as they pass, who’s guarding the hula hoop jail cell. The rest of the trip back to home base, however, is unusually quiet. By the time they make it back to the main clearing where Zahra, Shaan, Amy, and Cash are standing guard, they’ve yet to run into a single camper. The realization makes Alex feel uneasy.

Amy and Nora go to rescue Pez while Liam fills the rest of them in on the flag situation. Zahra looks just as baffled as the rest of them when he tells her the flag is on the roof, but she quickly shakes it off and starts strategizing. They’re five minutes into it when Nora and Amy come back, Pez alongside them, and surprisingly, Rafael. Nora brags about that rescue being the easiest one she’s ever done; there weren’t any kids guarding the jail, anyway, and Raf explains that a swarm of campers ambushed his area and saved everyone from their side, then promptly disappeared. Alex doesn’t like the sound of either of their news. The kids are being distant. A little too distant.

“Hang on,” he interrupts. “Doesn’t anyone else feel weird? Why aren’t the kids doing anything? They usually go apeshit for this game.”

“Alex has a point,” Shaan points out. “It’s been awfully quiet for too long.”

Zahra stops talking, letting the words sink in. “There’s not much we can do about it,” she says after a moment. “If the kids want to be little shits and back off, that’s their problem, but we —”

As if on cue, a loud rustling sound comes from the woods, and they all look up to see what was the source of the noise. Then a large crowd of campers comes bursting through the trees, yelling out battle cries, and they _keep coming._ Soon enough their territory is swarmed by nearly eighty campers, running in all directions so Alex can’t keep his eyes on any specific one. All of a sudden a smaller body connects with his, hard, and he tumbles to the ground, the other Alex falling on top of him, a smug grin on his face.

“We got you!” he exclaims happily. Alex hears another soft thud next to him, and he can see Liam on his back out of his peripheral vision, Carlos and Treyvon perched on top of him. To his left, he can see Henry and Pez knocked to the ground as well by their own campers.

“What?” he manages.

“Pranked!” the other Alex cries out happily. He breaks out into laughter, and that’s about the only thing he can get out of him. Alex is still so fucking confused.

“You guys always prank each other,” a voice says to Alex’s left: it’s Dylan, sitting on top of Henry, whose head is turned towards Alex confused bewilderment. “Always! So we’re pranking _you_ now!”

Alex feels his face crack into a grin, and he drops his head back on the ground and laughs. “Oh my god. That’s amazing.”

“You mean to tell me that your grand scheme is to team up and overpower us in capture the flag?” Pez says, his voice slightly muffled. Alex cranes his neck to get a better look at him. He’s the least lucky of the bunch, having landed on his stomach instead of his back, half his face pressed into the grass. He snorts. “Amateurs.”

Alex clicks his tongue. “Sorry, Mini Me, but I’m gonna have to side with Pez for this one. You know you’re on our territory, right? Y’all just earned yourselves a one-way ticket to jail.”

The other Alex grins, the exact opposite reaction that Alex was expecting. “That’s part of the plan,” he giggles.

“Part of the…” Alex repeats, trailing off. He hears a victorious cry in the distance, definitely not from one of the counselors, and he groans. “Dang it.”

The kids quickly scramble off of their counselors and rush over to where one of Rafael’s campers has their flag held high over his head in victory. For a six-year-long winning streak being broken, Alex doesn’t feel as distraught about it. He thinks about what Dylan said, how their cabins collectively thought that Henry and Alex needed a taste of their own medicine, how they took the time to plan out this prank and have the entire camp storm their capture the flag territory and steal the flag right under their noses. Following in his footsteps. Being the influence he always tried to be.

Okay, then. Maybe losing isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Afternoon activities go on as normal. Alex is scheduled as one of the lifeguards for the last time this summer, alongside none other than Henry. Alex watches him from on top of the lifeguard chair, paddling in the kayak, chatting with the campers that swim up to him, a wide smile on his face. Just below him is the dock, the very same dock that they stood on during the swim test on the second day of the summer, where they were both stupid and oblivious, oh so oblivious, and harsh words were exchanged, and accusations were made, and Henry pushed him into the water, and they were forced to bond for the rest of the summer. And now look at them.

It’s the exact same dock, Alex thinks. Same as previous summers, when he was both camper and counselor alike. The lake is the same, as is the beach, as are the cabins, as is the entire campground. It’s all the same.

Henry smiles at him when their eyes meet. It’s not the same.

They sit together on the dock during the fifteen-minute safety break, legs dangling off the side, bare toes skimming the water. “Where it all started,” Henry says softly.

Alex laughs. So he was thinking about it, too. “Yeah, exactly.”

The campers aren’t very far away, just down the dock and on the shore, but Alex still nudges their hands together so their fingertips barely lace. It still feels good, Henry’s hand in his, no matter how little. “I never thought I would be so glad about someone throwing me in a lake,” he admits.

“I think you mean _you_ pulling _me_ into the lake,” Henry corrects him, his eyes crinkling at the corners when he grins.

Alex shakes his head, smirking. “I can’t believe you’re still convinced that it was me.”

“Because it was!”

“There is _no_ universe where it was my fault,” Alex argues. “You walked away, so I grabbed you —”

“Exactly! You _wrenched_ me back and sent us both flying into the water —”

“No, no, no,” Alex says repeatedly, trying to speak over Henry.

“If you had let me walk away like any sane person would have done —”

“If _you_ weren’t being such an entitled piece of —”

“Why are we even bickering?” Henry laughs. He’s probably laughed more this summer than the past three years combined. “Clearly it worked out in our favor. I’m honestly quite pleased it happened.”

“Fine, fine,” Alex mutters. He pauses. “But you pushed me in.”

“I _cannot_ believe you.”

Alex chuckles quietly to himself, inching their fingers closer together. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He can’t believe it took him so long to realize what he feels for Henry. What Henry feels for him. How good they are together.

“Hey,” Henry says after a moment. “Do you think. Um.” He looks away. “Do you think we would have… happened? If this incident never occurred?”

And that. That is something that Alex has let cross his mind once or twice. He thinks how easy it was, how convenient that Zahra forced their cabins together for the rest of the summer, how lucky they were to have ended up in a situation that allowed them to blossom into so much more. But then he thinks of his mild infatuation with Henry years prior (okay, maybe that’s an understatement), Henry’s confession of wanting him the entire time. It wasn’t luck. No. Chance, maybe. Convenience, surely. But not luck. Not that.

“I think so,” he finally says. “It might’ve taken us a bit longer, but I think we would’ve found each other in the end. This was more of a nudge. A nudge in the right direction.”

The corners of Henry’s mouth twitch up. “I like the sound of that.”

They sit together until the fifteen minutes are up, not talking, simply enjoying the feel of fingertips against fingertips and the cool water on their legs when they splash each other. Henry is about to settle back in the kayak when Alex grabs his wrist, pulling him close to him. Henry stares at him in amused bewilderment. “What is it?”

Alex can feel his lips curling into a smirk. “Why don’t you say we do one more jump? Y’know, for old times’ sake?”

Henry laughs. “Old times’ sake. Don't you mean four weeks ago?”

“I’m serious.”

“I’m perfectly aware. Zahra may have a fit again, however.”

“I don’t care,” Alex says back. “What’s she gonna do? Force us to spend the entirety of next summer together? That’s already my plan.”

Henry’s bright blue eyes shine. “Sounds like a lovely plan.”

“You know it, baby.” Alex jerks his head towards the lake. “Jump with me? I’ll even push you in, y’know, so we’re even.”

“You mean so you can shove me in for the second time?” Henry tugs him towards the edge of the dock. “I don’t think so.”

The water is cold when they fall into it, sending chills up Alex’s spine, but also from the rush of excitement when they jumped. When they break the surface, his hand is still enclosed around Henry’s wrist, just as it was the last time, but unlike last time, Henry is grinning at him rather than looking as if he wants to strangle him. Opposite ends of the spectrum. All in just four weeks.

“Maybe this is a new tradition for us,” Henry offers, eyes twinkling mischievously, and Alex has to resist every bone in his body from closing the few inches of space between them and kissing him full on the mouth in front of everyone. He gets the feeling that Henry wouldn’t even bat an eye if he did just that.

“You know I’m always a sucker for a good tradition.”

As the last Cannon Falls dinner always is, the entire camp spreads out across the campfire grounds for a picnic dinner. The log benches have been removed, instead replaced with large quilt blankets, which everyone settles upon across the soft sand, campers and counselors alike intermingling. Alex finds himself tucked on a blanket with Henry, June, and Nora, campers from all three of their cabins laughing and talking amongst each other on the blanket in front of them. Zahra and Shaan are busy setting up the large projector screen on the stage, getting ready to show off the annual end-of-the-summer slideshow put together for the kids. The campfire flickers lazily in the center of the crowd of blankets. It’s the most at peace Alex has felt all summer.

Henry and June are in a heated debate over the best old English author (Henry is a strong advocate for Jane Austen while June fights faithfully for George Eliot and her novel _Romola)_. Next to them, Nora is sword fighting two of her campers with the sticks from their fruit kabobs. Alex still can’t seem to grasp that camp life and real life are about to become one life, _his_ life. But as he sits next to Henry, watches him bicker with his sister, feels him rest his hand on his knee so naturally, as if they have been together for years, he thinks this is something he can get used to quite easily.

He rests his head on Henry’s shoulder, heart flipping when Henry squeezes his knee in response and continues on making a strong case for Jane Austen. Alex suddenly realizes how coupley they look — his head on Henry’s shoulder, Henry’s hand on his knee, him wrapped up in Henry’s NYU sweatshirt. Well. Let them be coupley. It’s what they promised to each other, wasn’t it? A date when Alex is back in New York, and if that goes well, if they both have those same feelings after a month spent apart, then they would be together. Boyfriend and boyfriend.

Alex’s eyes flick up to Henry. Huh. Boyfriend.

He can already imagine saying it — _“This is Henry, my boyfriend.”_ The way it slips off his tongue should be frightening, should be downright terrifying, but it isn’t. Not in the slightest. It sounds natural, so _right._ Like he’s so sure of it. He supposes it’s fitting. Alex has never been more sure of anything in his life.

Because it’s him. It’s Henry. The end thought.

He must have zoned out for quite a while, because the next time he’s aware of his surroundings, June has now joined in on the sword fight, having stopped arguing with Henry, and Henry is looking down at him with a small smile on his face, moving his hand to brush stray strands of hair out of Alex’s face. “What are you staring at, love?” he asks, so soft, so caring.

Alex opens his mouth to respond — respond with what, he doesn’t even know — but at that moment the projector spurs to life, the first photo appearing on the screen. Alex simply smiles back and leans closer into him. Henry’s arm wraps around his shoulders, holding him tight. His lips are soft when he presses a kiss into his hair.

The first photo is of all the counselors posed in front of the welcome sign, barely an hour before the campers started to arrive. With a pang in his heart, Alex notices that he and Henry are on opposite ends. While picture Alex is grinning happily on top of Nora’s shoulders, picture Henry is hunched over with Pez and Shaan, a passable but still timid smile on his face. So much has changed since then. So, so much.

The slide changes to the next picture, an overhead shot of the entire camp gathered around the campfire that first night. Next slide. Zahra standing up front, welcoming the campers. Next slide. A still of Alex, Cash, and Rafael dumping the bucket of water over her head. Alex can feel Henry laughing from where he’s pressed against him.

The next half a dozen slides are snapshots of the kids at activities, during free time. Pez photobombs a group of his campers in one of the shots, earning a laugh from the watching crowd. The next photo is of a group of young girls posing in front of the lake. Based on the timeline of events, Alex thinks, this should be right around the swim test. He squints, and — yep, there they are in the very corner of the photo, standing on the dock, side-by-side, presumably exchanging whatever the opposite of pleasantries would be.

More pictures of the campers flash through, groups of them at the breakfast table, making friendship bracelets with Amy at the arts and crafts table, posing with their loot from the canteen. The next series of photos are from Liam’s gaga tournament. They’re mostly of the campers, but there’s one of him, Henry, and Liam in the pit, the ball poised in midair after Alex hit it towards Liam, seconds away from victory.

Then comes the Fourth of July. Pictures flood in of the kids decked out in red, white, and blue; running through the aqua obstacle course, down on the beach competing in an intense round of tug-of-war, speeding down the hills during the relay race. There’s even a photo of Henry in that horrible flag-patterned fedora. Alex snorts into Henry’s shirt when he sees it.

There’s few pictures of the barbeque dinner that night before they’re replaced with an influx of the water balloon fight. Alex smiles at the memory. Soon after, the photos of the fireworks flip through, and his stomach flips. Where he and Henry first kissed.

Clearly Henry is thinking about it as well, because he leans over and says into Alex’s ear, “I can’t believe I snogged you on the most American holiday there is. A part of me feels as though I deserve to be exiled by the Queen herself.”

Alex laughs. “That bad of a first kiss, huh?” he teases.

“Not a bad kiss,” Henry says immediately. “Bad timing. Thank God I’ve kissed you plenty other times to make up for it.”

More pictures of the campers appear on screen. A group of Raf’s boys at the rock climbing wall. Zahra and Shaan smiling as they dismantle the Fourth of July decorations. Henry and Pez leading a group of campers down a trail on their horses. Alex may or may not have bitten back a groan at the sight of Henry on horseback.

Unluckily for him, Henry notices. “What’s that about?”

“Nothing. Um.” Alex turns his face into the crook of Henry’s neck. “You can’t laugh.”

“I promise I won’t.”

“I don’t know what it is, but, uh. You on horseback kind of… does it for me.”

Henry is quiet, but Alex can feel him shaking with silent laughter. He wrenches upright to stare angrily at him. “You said you wouldn’t laugh!” he hisses with no real bite to his words.

“Oh, I know, darling, but it’s a little outlandish, don’t you think?” Henry says through chuckles, running his hand up and down Alex’s arm.

“I can’t believe you’re kinkshaming me, Wales.”

“Oh no, I’m flattered, honestly. Perhaps I can use this against you someday.”

Alex groans and falls back against Henry’s side. “You’re the worst,” he mumbles, smiling.

He focuses back on the slideshow just in time to see the picture he took of the other Alex surrounded by empty slushie containers. He can see his kids cheering and patting him on the back some feet in front of him. Next slide. Henry’s twelve campers, posed in front of his paper cup-infested cabin. Alex rolls his eyes as Henry laughs, light and happy in his ear.

The photos from Base Camp come by next. Alex watches snapshot after snapshot of the kids on the ropes course, shooting arrows at the archery station, doing team building exercises with the staff there. One picture of June, Nora, and Pez playing Monopoly manages to sneak in there. Pez, presumably the winner, has a pile of houses and a large wad of cash stacked in front of him, while June is pointing a thumbs-down at the camera and Nora has just given up, half her body slumped over the game board. A shout of laughter rings out from the crowd.

More pictures of the campers flit across the screen, a few of some of the counselors as well, but one appears that takes Alex’s breath away. It’s a picture of him and Henry, sitting on the picnic table outside the canteen for their break during free time like they've been doing for the past week, the Jaffa Cakes that he spotted in Henry’s bag the day they pranked his cabin sitting between them. Henry is turned halfway on the bench, one arm resting on the wooden surface of the table and the other resting on his bent knee. His head is cocked to the side, smiling brightly, white teeth and all. Alex is leaning across from the other end of the bench, half a Jaffa Cake in between his grinning lips. They look good.

Alex blinks. This was just earlier this afternoon. Henry brought along the remainder of his Jaffa Cakes, telling him that this is what a real dessert tasted like, and Alex told him that he was already losing points, for one thing, it didn’t look anything remotely like a cake. But Henry wouldn’t stop pestering him until he finally caved and popped one into his mouth, and even he had to admit that it wasn’t terrible, and they spent the remainder of their break talking about Henry’s favorite little bakery near NYU that they desperately had to visit come the fall, and he didn’t even think twice when June appeared in front of them with a camera around her neck, told them to smile, and walked away. He didn’t think there was enough time to add it into the slideshow. But as the photo fades away and another one of the campers playing 9 Square in the Air floats on instead, he’s so glad that it did.

He peeks around Henry to stare at his sister, who is already looking back at him, a small but knowing smile on her face. That bastard. She knew exactly what she was doing, didn’t she?

 _Thank you,_ Alex mouths in her direction. She winks back at him in response.

The slideshow ends with a shot of all the campers spread across the field, the kids in front clutching the plastic capture the flag trophy from this morning. The kids immediately burst into applause when the screen fades to black, whistles and whoops filling the air. He feels Henry shift against him, and he turns around to face him. The look on his face is so tender, so affectionate, so full of adoration that Alex kind of wants to die right then and there.

“Quite the photograph, was it not?” he mutters.

“Scratch what I said about this camp being my legacy,” Alex says back, leaning in ever so slightly. No one is paying attention to them, Zahra is up front again, giving the same goodbye speech that he’s heard fourteen times before. “It’s gonna be ours, baby. Me and you.”

“I can get behind that,” Henry agrees, and he presses his lips to his.

It’s a rush, the final morning of camp. It always is. Alex and Liam take their campers outside their cabin for an end-of-the-summer picnic breakfast, where they listen to the kids’ favorite memories of camp and how they’re already excited for next summer to roll around. After that, it’s back to the cabin for the final cabin cleanup. It always goes by faster than Alex thinks it ever will, caught up between cleaning out the pantry in the canteen and running around the camp in search of a missing pair of shorts, and before he knows it, parents start showing up. The morning is full of high-fives goodbye and campers hugging their newfound friends one last time. It’s always sad to see his campers go, but they all promise him that they’ll be coming back next year, and Alex ruffles their hair and tells them to come up with prank ideas, and that always puts a smile on both of their faces.

He’s busy wiping down the mattress, now stripped of their sheets, when a pair of arms wraps tightly around his middle. He twists around as best as he can in this death-grip. It’s the other Alex. He chuckles. “What’s up, Mini Me?”

“My parents are here,” the other Alex mumbles into his shirt. “I don’t wanna leave.”

It’s the first time all summer the kid has sounded anything less than outrageously excited. He turns around fully this time, gently pushing away the other Alex’s hands so he can sit down on the bunk. “Hey,” he says softly. “I know it's hard to leave. Did I ever tell you what happened when my parents picked me up my first year of camp?”

The other Alex shakes his head, tears prickling in the corner of his eyes.

“I hid. I lodged myself underneath the stage by the fire pit because I didn’t want to leave. I was there for hours; when my dad finally pulled me out we were the only family left. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to the friends I made. Does that sound like any fun?”

The other Alex shakes his head again.

“Exactly. So don’t do what I did, okay? It’s gonna be sad, but embrace the last day. I’m sure your folks’ll understand if you’re a bit apprehensive to leave. Hug your friends. Stick your feet in the lake one last time. Because the best part about leaving is that you’re not _actually_ leaving. There’s always next year, and the year after that, and camp will just keep coming and coming, okay? This place is never going to leave. I promise you.”

His words make the other Alex grin a bit. That’s something, at least. “Okay,” he says. He bites down on his bottom lip. “Are you gonna come back next year?”

“What, are you kidding me? I’ll be coming back until the day I die. Don’t even worry about it.”

This makes the kid perk up significantly. “I’m gonna be just like you, Alex,” he says, his old energetic self coming right back to him. “I’m gonna come back ‘til I’m too old, and then I’m gonna be a counselor! And Oliver says he’s gonna do the same thing! And then I’m gonna prank his cabin, just like we prank Henry!”

Alex’s cheeks hurt from smiling. “That sounds awesome. I'll expect nothing less from you now,” he says, standing up from the bunk. “You got your duffle packed yet? I’ll help you bring your stuff down.”

But before he can take another step, the other Alex’s arms are around him again, hugging him tightly. Alex is taken back a bit, not expecting the kid to show this much affection. He hugs him back just the same, smiling to himself. “You’re pretty great, kid.”

“Thanks for being the best counselor ever,” the other Alex tells him, smiling brightly, and Alex’s heart fucking melts.

Fuck. He can’t cry in front of the kid. Instead he presses his lips together, blinks rapidly. “You’re not so bad yourself, Mini Me,” he says roughly, trying to mask his emotions. “I’ll fight to get you next year, does that sound good?”

The other Alex, if it’s even possible, grins even wider. “I don’t wanna be in anyone else’s cabin.”

The camp significantly quiets down as more and more kids leave, and eventually, a short time after noon, the last camper is picked up. Officially over now.

The counselors still have a number of tasks to complete until they can leave, and Alex is stuck in the now-empty cabin finishing wiping down the mattresses while Liam is sent to the Rec Center to pack away extra supplies in the camp store. The last day is always such a surreal experience for him. He’s been surrounded by the same group of kids for nearly a month, and in a span of three hours, they’ve all gone. And soon enough, the rest of them will be gone as well, and Alex and June and Nora will crash at Liam’s apartment for their traditional end-of-the-year game night, and then they’ll depart to take their flights home. It won’t hit Alex until tomorrow, the realization that camp is over until next year. For now, he’s going to enjoy the last few moments left with his sister and two best friends.

A knock sounds from the doorway, and Alex turns around. Henry pokes his head in, a soft smile on his face. It’s actually concerning just how quickly Alex smiles back. “Hey there,” he says.

“Hello.” Henry steps inside the cabin, gesturing to the stripped-down bunks. “Getting all this out of the way, I see?”

“Ugh, unfortunately,” Alex groans. He sets down the spray bottle and crosses over to Henry. “Where are you supposed to be?”

“At the lake, packing away the kayaks for the winter,” Henry responds. “But Shaan had to double check where we’re storing them with Zahra, and it gets rather boring being alone, and I figured you could use some company.”

“Oh really?” Alex asks, laughing under his breath. “This visit was just out of the kindness of your heart, then? It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that you missed me?”

“I thought it was implied, darling,” Henry says back, his smile widening. “I always find myself missing you.”

Something shifts inside Alex’s brain. His words hit differently now, now that camp is over. Henry misses him. Henry _always_ misses him. And that’s just now, when they’re only a cabin apart. How the hell are they going to manage nearly fifteen hundred miles of distance between them?

Perhaps Henry can see the effect his words have on Alex, because there’s a slight strain in his voice when he asks, “How much longer are you in New York?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Alex says after a moment's hesitance. “But June and Nora and I are doing game night at Liam’s place tonight. I bet you and Pez can come, too, if it’s not too much of a hassle. We’ve got Monopoly and Liverpool and lots of alcohol. And I kind of want to see you drunk.”

Henry laughs at that. “I’d be honored to come,” he says. “And I won’t lie, drunk me is handsy and slightly, erm… _flamboyant_ , if you will. Drunk you sounds incredibly enticing, however.”

“All right, Wales, I’ll hold you to that.”

Henry takes his hand in his, brushing his thumb over the knuckles. He’s not meeting Alex’s eyes. “And the next day?”

Alex swallows. “Um. My flight’s at one. Probably need to be at the airport by eleven. Probably need to leave Liam’s place by ten.”

Henry nods, a sad little smile on his face. “So… so I guess I’ll see you at NYU, then?”

Alex squeezes his hand. “I guess so.”

Because that’s what they agreed on, right? A date once they meet up at NYU, to test out the waters, to see if they’ll actually be good together outside of camp. That’s their agreement. An agreement that Alex proposed, no less. But he’s starting to think that he doesn’t want to waste another goddamn second with Henry. He doesn’t need to wait another month to see if he’s sure. Because he is sure. And he’s sure _now._

“Or not,” he says quickly. Henry looks up in confusion. “No, not like that, I —” Alex takes a breath. “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t want to wait that long. A month apart just to meet up again and say we want to be together? I already know I want that, baby.” He brings their clasped hands to his mouth, kisses Henry's knuckles. “So let’s not wait. I can come down to New York before classes start, or — or you could fly down to Austin for a weekend, and I’ll show you around all the best places, the whole nine yards. But only if you want the same.”

“Okay,” Henry says softly. The smile is back on his face. He looks breathtaking. “Okay. I’m very interested in something like that.”

And Alex’s heart just about fucking bursts. He laughs, wrapping his arms around Henry’s shoulders and pulling him as close as he possibly can, until their foreheads press together. And Henry is grinning just the same, his hands settling low on Alex’s hips, like two pieces of a puzzle fit side by side.

“Tell me if I’m stepping too far,” Henry mutters a moment later, his lips brushing against his, “but I think it’s only a matter of time before I fall hopelessly in love with you.”

And fuck, if Alex doesn’t feel the very same. It’s just as Henry said that day at the falls, after they first kissed, after they avoided each other because they both thought the other didn’t want what they so desperately craved. That it all builds up. Stupid pranks, going out of their way just to insult each other, looking for a way to get any sort of reaction from the other, being forced together, pointing out Orion outside of their cabins, kissing underneath the fireworks, texting about the most mundane things but it didn’t matter because it was enough that they were talking to each other, sneaking off to have sex in the empty cabins, sharing each other’s clothes while watching a picture of the two of them shine on a screen for everyone to see. Alex has probably been falling in love with Henry ever since he shoved him into the lake.

“I think I could fall in love with you, too,” Alex agrees. “There’s no one else I’d rather want to love.”

Because Henry is summer. He always will be to Alex. But as their lips meet in a soft kiss, Alex knows that he will become fall as well, full of colors changing on the trees and shared campus apartments and pumpkin spiced everything. And then he’ll be winter, with visits to the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and cuddling under a shared blanket when the weather is too tough to face alone. And he’ll certainly be spring as well, made up of Shiners at the lake house and bar-hopping at graduation parties. And then he’ll be summer all over again — a time of ease, a time of pranks and mischief, the happiest Alex is all year. But it’ll be different this time. The sun will shine a little brighter with every slide of Henry’s arms around his waist. The grass will be a little more green every time he can make Henry laugh. The air will smell a little sweeter with every kiss, every touch, every caress, every thrust. And those feelings will spread into the other seasons as well, until Henry encompasses all of them, until the only thing Alex will be able to feel is a year-round summer.

Henry draws back, presses a lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth, and says, “You may not know how much you pulled me out of the dark with your riveting glow, but I am reminded of it every time I look at you, and for that I will be forever grateful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allow me to get sappy for a moment. I haven't written fic in nearly three years, and then this lovely book called Red, White & Royal Blue falls into my hands. The amount of love this fic has been given is unbelievable. I had such an amazing time writing it and posting each chapter and hearing all your thoughts only made it even better. Thank you to everyone for commenting, leaving kudos, or just silently reading — all of it means the absolute world to me. A special shoutout to the [RWRB: A Gray Area discord server](https://discord.gg/Nc3rSY9678) for being such an amazing group of people and hyping up each chapter!!!!! I know I've said it a million times but I'm going to keep saying it: thank you thank you thank you!!!
> 
> As for future works, I'm definitely not going anywhere! I have a couple of one-shots in the drafts and will be posting those here and there, and I have another larger project that's barely outlined but I'm itching to write it. Hopefully in the summer, but that's even pushing it. I start classes again next week, so I'll definitely be more quiet on here, but there's no way I can't not write about these boys. They're too in love to deserve anything less.
> 
> Again, one more time, thank you SO much for enjoying this fic as much as I did!!!!!! I hope to see you all very soon!!!!!


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